Kill the Lights
by vividRegulator
Summary: Jackson Frost is just your average trouble making high school loner, until his world is turned upside down when he joins the group of kids that plan the holiday events. Just as he starts to get attached to them, a series of unfortunate events strike and some guy named Mr. Moon tells Jack that the dreams he always have at night are real and that everything around him is a lie.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hiii there everyone did you miss me? welp im back with another rise of the guardians fanfction and if you havent read my first fanfiction, Sleep, then i suggest you do just so that you can have a glimpse of my writing style if this is your first time reading one of my fics :3**

**Dislaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or the cover art. The picture i used for cover art was drawn by tumblr user mossmallow and is used with her permission but this website cut off most of the image and i have never been more pi**ed off in my life :I so if any of you out there know how i can fix this please tell me because i would like to show all of you the full sized image**

Chapter One

_This story's missing a wishing well  
No mirror to show and tell  
No kiss that can break the spell  
I'm falling asleep_

"Is that a challenge cottontail?"

"Ya don't want to race a rabbit mate."

Bunnymund suddenly became a blur as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop at record speeds. "Whoa!" Jack said at seeing the tall rabbit zoom off. He needed to step up his game if he wanted to beat the Easter Kangaroo.

Realizing that he was lagging behind the rest, Jack flew faster through the air. Tooth had given them orders on what houses to go to and Jack happened to spot the closest one. No one else was around, which meant that he had this house all to himself.

He slowly opened the window leading to the child's room. He was about to step through and grab the baby tooth under the child's pillow when a hole suddenly opened up besides their bed and Bunnymund hopped out of it. He reached under the pillow and pulled out the baby tooth and being the mature spirit he is, he smirked and waved it a Jack just to taunt the teen. Jack just furrowed his brow while narrowing his eyes at his rival and a bolt of ice shot out from the crook of his staff and he smiled when he heard the rabbit yelp as he was hit in the face.

/

An obnoxious beeping sound suddenly woke Jack up in his bed. The sleepy teen pulled his white pillow over his head trying to block out his alarm clock but he could still hear it pounding against his eardrums. He groaned before slamming his hand over the infernal device. Five more minutes of sleep never did anyone harm did it? Besides, Jack was having such a nice dream. This time he was collecting baby teeth for the tooth fairy with the help of the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, and the Sandman. He even shot ice at the Easter bunny's face while they broke into houses to collect the teeth.

Jack laid in his bed as his eyes remained closed. He was about to drift back into sleep before his alarm clock went off again only this time louder. It wasn't even five minutes yet! Deciding not to deal with this so early in the morning, Jack sat up and knocked his alarm clock onto the ground not caring that it shattered against the hard wood floor. He needed a new clock in his room anyway. Jack sighed and rested his head once again relieved at the silence filling his room. He would only be in bed for thirty more seconds. Sleep was an important thing to him. After all, last night he was watching a movie on the television with everyone else in the room. It was a Disney movie, and Jack wanted to watch it until the end.

It wasn't a moment after he broke his alarm clock Jack's eyes snapped open. He had school! Throwing his bed sheets off himself, Jack sprung out of his bed and ran to the dresser in his room. It wasn't much of a room, Jack lived in the attic at Burgess Orphanage since all of the other rooms were crammed with the other orphans all at least five years younger than he was. Besides, his eighteenth birthday was in a few days, which meant that he would be an adult soon.

After slipping on a pair of tattered brown pants, Jack didn't bother to put a shirt on and he just slipped into his blue pullover hoodie. He had already wasted time just trying to wake up and if he didn't get to the bus stop soon he'd be late and miss the bus. Again.

Jack didn't even know what time it was because the only clock in the attic was lying on the floor in pieces. There were some other clocks stored in boxes around the attic, but according to Ms. Dawdson, the caretaker of the orphanage, Jack wasn't allowed to touch anything in there because he might break them or sell them to some shady guy in a black van or something. Usually Jack would just wave her off and look anyway, but everything in those storage boxes were covered in dust and buried under thick bed sheets that he was too lazy to pull off.

The albino teen ran to the other side of the attic where a door was in the floor. He pushed the flap down and as it opened up a ladder folded out. Jack nearly tripped when he grabbed his schoolbag and climbed down the ladder that could give out beneath him at any minute. He didn't have time to run down the stairs so he just slid down the rails on the staircase as he reached the first floor of the three story orphanage. He was late enough, Jack didn't have time to comb his hair or to brush his teeth so he just popped a stick of strong spearmint gum in his mouth to get rid of any morning breath as he ran to the door not even bothering with breakfast.

Jack was almost out the door when he felt a hand pull him back. "Jack I think you're forgetting something." said a young feminine voice behind him. Jack turned around to see Katherine, a young girl with curly dirty blonde hair standing in front of him holding a blue pair of old converse shoes.

"Oh. Thanks Katherine."

"There's still some snow from yesterday so you'll be wanting to wear shoes before you run out."

Katherine handed Jack his shoes and he waved goodbye to her before rushing out the door. Jackson Frost had been at the orphanage for ten years and the closest things to friends he had was Katherine, who's parents had died in an avalanche of snow during a family vacation when she was a baby, and this other boy who everyone called 'Nightlight' because he always had a flashlight in his hands that he shined through the night.

Nightlight was adopted yesterday, while Jack was at school, and Katherine was supposed to be picked up by her new family today. Jack would really miss them even though they were only in the orphanage for three weeks. They were his friends. Well, they weren't his closest friends Nightlight was more like a playmate despite that fact the he barely talked and Katherine would tell amazing stories. All this was just another reason for Jack not being too social to everyone else. If he became social then he'd become attached. If he became attached then he'd be too sad when they would leave his life forever. That's the curse of being the seventeen year old orphan who nobody wants to adopt. He can never make any friends without them being whisked away to another family.

Jack was never adopted. Ever. He was known as the 'white haired hellion that nobody wanted'. It wasn't that people looking to adopt thought that Jack's white hair was weird, but he was such a trouble maker. Nobody wanted to adopt a burden, so it looked like Jack wouldn't be adopted anytime soon.

It was as if Jack wasn't meant to have friends. They would just fade out of his life as if he never meant anything to them. Jack couldn't even make friends at school. He was just a mischievous loner who the teachers didn't like because he always talked back to them. They really should have expected this though. Jack was a teenager, teachers should expect teenagers to use sarcasm.

Jack ran through the snow and almost tripped on his untied shoelaces. He never tied his shoes so they would always be a tangled mess. Whenever that Aster Bunnymund kid from school saw them, Jack knew that his untied shoes irked the Australian. Everyone thought that Jack never tied his shoes just to spite Aster but in reality, Jack had actually forgotten how to tie his shoes but he never told anyone that. Jackson Frost did not want to be known as the high school senior who couldn't tie a single knot. Besides, his father had taught him how to tie his shoes and the last time he even talked to his father was back when he was an obedient child.

Sprinting down the road, Jack hopped over every patch of ice and leapt over the snowbanks. He could feel the cold moist snow seeping through his tattered shoes but he didn't care. He had to get to the bus stop before it left without him. Jack cut through someone's front yard and off in the distance he could see his yellow school bus open its doors. That was when he started to run faster. He almost made it to his bus but unfortunately he tripped over his shoelaces and landed face first in the snow. Jack looked back up to see his bus depart without him.

"Hey wait!" he yelled as he he got out of the snow. He didn't even bother to brush the snow off of his hoodie as he trailed after the school bus full of high school kids.

/

A six foot one Australian teen with green eyes rested his head on the window of the bus. A few locks of his brown hair hung over the grey and black bandana tied around his head but he didn't care. A dark green satchel hung off of his shoulder as he stared out the window. This boy was named Edmund Aster Bunnymund but he preffered just 'Aster' and he hated winter, he also hated riding a cold metal school bus to school. Winter was when all of the beautiful and colorful plants would die and it was too cold outside to enjoy anything. The only good thing about winter was that it had ended but it had left snow behind. It was as if winter was overstaying its visit during spring, and Easter was in a few weeks. Aster adjusted his long blueish grey winter coat and was glad that he had worn his boots today. There was still snow on the ground from yesterday and if he had worn his normal school shoes his feet would have gotten frostbite. The thought of frostbite suddenly sent a thought about that Jack Frost kid through Aster's mind and he scowled.

He hated that kid.

Jackson Frost had made a mockery of Aster in their freshman year together. It was during the Easter Egg Hunt too. Aster had been going over the rules with some volunteers and the next thing he knew Jack came out of nowhere and pulled down Aster's pants revealing his kangaroo boxers to everyone. It didn't help that Jack's hands were freezing cold either. That kid was as cold as a dead corpse. Why did he even pants Aster anyway? Was it because of some stupid dare? Was he forces to do it? Or was it because Jack was just a that much of a jerk? The points is that the Aussie had never been more embarrassed in his life and it didn't help that Jack constantly reminded of it since he kept calling him 'Kangaroo'.

Jack and Aster have never gotten along. It was always the six foot one Australian with thick eyebrows and brown hair that flared out at the sides under his bandana against the trouble making five foot six albino who looked like he had never been under the sun a day in his life and was the scrawniest kid Aster knew. You could get a paper cut from Jack.

Sitting next to Aster was Toothiana Fairie or 'Tooth' to her friends. She was five foot four with her light brown hair pulled neatly back into a high ponytail. She had a few feathery hair accessories on her head that included a blue headband with a round feather on the side. Dangling from her ears was a set of golden earrings shaped like diamonds and the engravings on them made them look even more beautiful when they would shimmer under the light. On here long eyelashes was a coat of pink mascara that complemented her pink eyeshadow. If any other girl had worn as much makeup as Tooth did, they would have ended up looking completely ridiculous but Tooth was able to pull it off stunningly. Most of it was because of her perfect teeth and the only reason they were perfect was because she brushed and flossed them four times a day. Underneath her brightly multicolored winter coat was a set of bright gold bangles on one wrist and a golden necklace with a feather hanging in the center.

She also had a tiny metal box the size of a nickel hanging from her neck that contained her first baby tooth.

Tooth gazed out the window that Aster was resting his head on and saw Jackson Frost chasing after the bus.

Again.

Jack could be clearly seen since his blue hoodie and bright blue eyes stood out in the white background he was sprinting through, and according to Tooth Jack was the hottest thing outside at the moment. There was a rumor going around school that Tooth had a major crush on the high school loner, and it was true. Another rumor was that Jack had teeth as white as freshly fallen snow and since Tooth wanted to be a dentist, she desperately wanted to see Jack's teeth. She never asked him though. Walking up to you crush and asking if you can examine their mouth is something that Tooth was not planning to do. "Hey Aster, I think we should tell the bus driver to stop." she said.

"Why?"

"Because Jack is chasing-"

"Eh, let him be. The kid needs to learn how to be responsible enough to not miss his bus."

"But its freezing cold outside!"

"Doesn't Frost love the snow? Remember that time when he ran barefoot through the snow wearing nothing but that blue hoodie of his and tattered pants? Seriously that boy is not right in the head to be doing something as mental as that."

"Okay I get it we all know you don't like cold weather."

"No, I loathe it completely."

Tooth frowned at her companion. How could he be so cruel? Tooth knew that Aster and Jack weren't buddies but Jack might freeze to death out there! Well, maybe he wouldn't die but there was a high chance of him getting a fever. Tooth looked through the window again to see Jack becoming farther and farther away. If only her other two friends were here, but Sandy walked to school and North just drove his car. Usually they would all ride in North's car to school but he forgot to pick them up today meaning that Aster and Tooth had to take the bus like everyone else.

Looking further outside, Tooth saw that the independent boy chasing after them was out of sight.

"Hey I don't see Jack out there anymore,"

"Frost probably fell behind. He's a fast runner but he was just too far to catch up to us. Any way he'll probably just find another was to get to school."

"Yeah probably."

Tooth hoped that Jack was okay.

On the topic of Jack, the boy was currently climbing up a tree that the bus would pass under anytime soon. There was a branch that extended out over the road, so if Jack could crawl out to the branch in time, he could just drop down onto the bus when it passed. To a normal person this would be the stupidest idea ever but to Jack it sounded rather exciting and fun.

He slowly made his way out to the branch as the bus came into view. Just a few seconds more and he would be able to drop down.

OoOoO

"What if he doesn't wake up?"

"Well we can't say if that will happen yet."

"But he's been asleep for days!"

"Maybe he was just over workin himself again."

"Yeah but even if he was he should have woken up by now. Sandy can't you do something?"

Tooth turned away from Bunnymund and looked at the sandman who just shrugged. He was the one who had found Jack Frost sleeping in a tree and at first he though everything was normal, until Jack didn't wake up. It was then that Sandy brought Jack to the North Pole and that was days ago. Jack hadn't even batted an eye or showed any sign of uneasy rest. It didn't even make sense for Jack to be asleep for this long. Pitch was gone, and even if he had somehow risen back to power he couldn't make a winter spirit go into a coma, and there was no way that Sandy had intentionally put Jack to sleep for this long.

"Do you want to try looking into Jack's dreams again Sandy?" North asked him. The last time Sandy had tried to look into Jack's mind the only thing he received was a massive headache from it. It was as if Jack's dream was too big for the guardian of dreams. Sandy nodded and walked up to the bed where Jack was resting. His golden hand was placed on Jack's cold pale forehead and he closed his eyes while concentrating. He began to look into Jack's mind but all he saw was nothing, just an empty white space. The connection faded away and Sandy opened his eyes to see Jack still asleep while the other guardians looked at him anxious for an answer.

"Well? What?" Bunymund questioned. A question mark formed above Sandy's head indicating that he did not know. All of them sighed in frustration. If the sandman didn't know what was going on in Jack's head, then that meant that he could be dreaming of anything.

* * *

**A/N: okay so if you want to see what everyone will look humanized in this fic, just look at the amazing cover art made by tumblr user mossmallow :3 **

**lets just say i saw the picture and became inspired by it. also, the italicized words at the beginning of this are song lyrics from the the song kill the lights by the birthday massacre but dont worry i wont include them all the time **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: hey everyone glad you liked the first chapter :3**

**and yes, this is NOT just one of those high school AUs, this is different.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or the cover art. The picture i used for cover art was drawn by tumblr user mossmallow and is used with her permission**

Chapter Two

_Every prince is a fantasy_  
_ The witch is inside of me_  
_ Her poison will wash away the memor_y

The bus was directly under Jack and he sucked in his breath as he jumped off the branch. There was a loud thud as he landed on the roof of the bus and he clung on for dear life. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Jack was currently riding on his school bus and one part of him thought that this might be illegal. Brisk air rushing past him blew his hair back and Jack couldn't help but smile. Even though he woke up with a panic attack at realizing he was going to miss the bus, the actual ride to school felt amazing legal or not. It was as if he were flying.

"Did you hear that Tooth?" Aster said taking his head off of the window. "Did you hear that noise as if something fell on the bus?"

"I bet its just snow from that tree we just passed under." she replied. Nobody on the bus had seen Jack jump from a tree and onto the school bus and nobody knew he was on top of the roof above their heads. In fact, everyone except Aster and Tooth didn't even know that Jack had been chasing the bus.

Jack whooped and grinned as he stood up on the bus keeping his balance on the moving vehicle. He saw some kids out walking their dog and he waved to them. "Hey kids!" he called out.

The kids just froze in their tracks and stared with their jaws on the ground at seeing Jack stand on top of a moving bus. Jack just laughed at them and turned back around. As long as a police officer didn't see him, Jack would be fine. This had to be the most fun he's ever had with school transportation. He was certainly wide awake that was for sure ad riding _on_ the bus was more fun than riding _in_ the bus.

Jack looked at the scenery rushing past him and didn't see that the bus was approaching a yellow light. The bus driver obviously wanted to beat the yellow light and sped up. Within seconds the light changed to red and the bus came to a screeching halt. The sudden stop threw Jack off balance and he fell forward and slid off of the bus, slammed onto the front engine, and then flopped onto the road.

Everyone had been looking forward at the time so they were all there to witness Jack's body ricochet off of the windshield. Tooth gasped and covered her mouth when she heard Jack's body hit the road. "Oh my gosh Aster I think that was Jack!" she blurted out. Tooth and many other people rose out of their seats and moved to the front so that they could look outside to see if the body that had slid off the bus _was_ Jack.

Most of the people up front were girls. Jack's appearance had given him many admirers but for some reason he would always turn them down. It was as if he didn't want to get close to anyone. This is how he treated everyone his age at school, by giving everyone a cold shoulder. Everyday at lunch he would sit outside all alone and nobody ever came near him. They never even acknowledged him as if he didn't exist.

"Everyone back in their seats!" the bus driver yelled out as he got up. He was the driver of this bus, meaning that he was responsible for these obnoxious teenagers in the mornings and at the afternoons. The bus driver jumped when there was a sudden tapping at the door.

It was Jack.

Other than a bruise on the side of his head and the snow covering his clothes, he seemed fine.

On the outside.

"Are you going to let me in or what?" he asked through the door. The bus driver opened the door without a word ad Jack slowly stepped inside. He knew that later in the day he would most likely have to answer a few questions about this whole accident with the bus, but what was Jack supposed to tell them? If he told them the truth about how he decided to jump onto the surface of the bus that he had missed they would all think he was crazy. If he lied and told them that the bus had hit him, there would be too many people objecting because for the first time ever, everyone had seen Jack. They had see his body fall over the windshield and that would not have happened if he was standing in the road. There weren't even any crosswalks where they had stopped at the red light.

Everyone was speechless as the restless albino walked down the aisle.

"I told you he wasn't right in the head. Jack could've gotten himself killed doing as something brainless like that." Aster mumbled to Tooth. He didn't know that Jack was passing by them when he had said that and he also didn't know that Jack had heard him.

"Awww. You do care." Jack teased as he looked in Aster's direction. Aster just scowled and turned away while Tooth just eyed Jack as he moved further to the back of the bus. He was doing it again, separating himself from the others. Jack was sitting alone in the last bus seat and looked out the window until they finally reached school. He was oblivious that Toothiana Fairie had been thinking about him the entire time.

Tooth looked down at the ground of the bus lost in thought.

Is Jack okay?

What if he hurt something on the inside?

What if he'd hiding a serious injury?

Jack had hit the windshield of the bus pretty hard. There were tiny cracks from where his body had impacted it and a tiny dent in the cover of the front engine despite the fact that Jack weighed as much as a feather. It wasn't until she heard the hissing of the bus stopping at the high school she snapped out of her thoughts.

It looks like the bus had brought them to school early since there were still crowds of teenagers outside chatting and playing in the snow. Jack quickly exited his bus before the bus driver could stop him and he was now in front of the high school. Looking back to to where the buses were parked, Jack saw a group of career advisers chatting away with some of the freshmen this year. That reminded the teen of his eighteenth birthday in a few days.

In just a few days he would be an adult.

In just a few weeks he would have to prepare to be kicked out of the orphanage, Ms. Dawdson said that when he became an adult he couldn't stay there anymore unless he started to pay rent.

In just a few months he would have graduated high school.

Jack would have to decide what he would do with his life. If he stayed at the orphanage to work there he would just be reminded that nobody wanted him in their lives. He hadn't even come close to being adopted. Jack could always save up money for a house of his own, but he would need a job. To get a job he would have to be good at something, and the only talent Jack had was playing with children ten years younger than him.

Maybe he could work at a daycare?

There had to be something out there for him to do right?

Other people began coming off the bus and Jack sat on the bike racks as he watched people scurry around the snow covered courtyard like mice. He didn't have to worry about falling off the metal beams, he had impeccable balance not counting when he fell off the bus. Besides, nobody actually rides their bike to school which meant that Jack could sit on the bike racks for as long as he wants. More people began to fill the area and Jack pulled his hood over his head while keeping his eyes low. Jack wasn't the most social person, and whenever he tried to start up a conversation with someone they'd just brush him off. It was as if everyone thought he was a serial killer with three heads or something equally bizarre.

Was it because of his pale skin and unnaturally white hair?

Were they gawking at Jack because of how skinny he was?

Maybe they just didn't like him?

Jack was a trouble maker, so there were quite a few teachers and students who saw him as a nuisance.

Either way, Jack had no one to talk to at the prison he called school. But that was okay, he had gotten used to it in third grade. Jack watched the various cliques of people walking past him and he stared up at the sky to avoid any kind if conversation. Some people here were very aggravating to Jack, such as the girls who screamed at the top of their lungs whenever they see a friend who the see in every class. There were also those people in class who thought that they were funny and commented on every word a teacher would say. Jack could swear that there were kids smoking all sorts of drugs behind the school which only made Jack prefer children over the people his age. Jack could actually have fun with children instead of being ignored by every single person here.

However, there was this one person who Jack had sorta made friends with. This person in particular was short, four foot eleven to be exact. He carries around a notepad to communicate with others because he's mute and he is very fond of airplanes. Although he can't become a pilot because of his inability to speak and because of his narcolepsy, he has a pilot's wardrobe. It was even complete with bright brown aviation goggles on his head, a yellow jacket, a shiny golden scarf, brown pants, and whatever else a pilot may wear. The whole pilot look went well with the boy's tan skin, round face, flat nose, brown eyes, and spiky blonde hair.

This person was Sanderson Mansnoozie, or Sandy to most people.

Jack and Sandy weren't the closest friends, but they were locker neighbors and Sandy occasionally waved to Jack in the hallways. Jack barely got to see Sandy though. Sandy was really busy all the time because he always had plans with his friends.

These friends were Nicholas St. North or 'North' who acted as some sort of leader to the group, Edmund Aster Bunnymund who was the best painter in the school, and Toothiana Fairie who was like a hummingbird because of how busy and energetic she was. They were the group of kids who planned out all of the holiday events every year for the kids at elementary schools.

Jack spotted the group across the courtyard. They could clearly be seen because North stood out in the crowd. His large stature and height of six foot three could intimidate anyone. Not to mention his large red jacket as thick as his Russian accent. His dark hair was kept under a winter hat that rested on his head along with bright blue eyes and a few hairs at his chin. North was a very nice person at heart though no matter how he may look. He took wood shop, meaning that he's able to conjure up anything with the tools there and everything he made was wonderful. The best part about him was how generous he was. North would give hand made toys to the little girls and boys during the Christmas events and from how detailed they were, you could tell he spent a lot of time on them.

Jack could hear North laughing as Aster was talking with him and he could see Tooth and Sandy having a good conversation as well. Jack wished that he had what they had.

A family.

Friends.

The feeling of being welcomed.

He feeling that they weren't alone in the world.

That was a life not meant for Jack, but it could be worse.

He could be like Pitch Black, the teacher assistant who everyone either feared or loathed. He also reminded some people of that Snape guy from Harry Potter. Jack wondered if Pitch was even his real name. Who names their child Pitch anyway? What kind if name was that? Just imagine baby Pitch taking his first steps or having his first haircut. Jack snickered to himself imagining that Pitch could have been a normal baby once.

Pitch was far from normal. He was six foot one like Aster but he had black hair slicked back. His skin also looked as if he was sick and he had sharp cheekbones on his face that could clearly cut someone if anyone dared to slap him. Then there were Pitch's dark brown eyes. They looked as if they were black just like the rest if the clothes he wore. Pitch would always wear a long black trench coat with a dark grey v-neck underneath.

And how did Jack know what Pitch had on under his coat?

The answer was that during Jacks freshman year he had 'accidentally' spilled some bleach on Pitch's black trench coat. Pitch had taken it off and Jack saw that the man had a locket on as well. He didn't know what was in it, but there were rumors that it held a picture if Pitch's daughter inside. A few days later Pitch had 'accidentally' spilled an entire pot if scalding hot coffee on Jack's pants in a certain area that was very sensitive. Not only had it looked like he had wet himself, but the hot liquid had left a few burns and Jack couldn't use the bathroom right for three days. Jack hated Pitch ever since.

Jack was still staring at Sandy and his friends. That group had a reputation of bringing hope and wonder to children while giving them unforgettable memories as well as making their dreams come true. They all did all this planning and deadlines in their free time. Jack certainly didn't need any extra work. He was already falling behind in school and he was more about snowballs and fun time, not stressing over holiday decorations. Besides, Jack had no desire to spend his time with them. It wasn't that Jack disliked them, he just found it very uncomfortable that they were in his dreams every night.

In Jack's dreams, he would be this winter spirit with a wooden staff that could create snow. Aster was a giant rabbit who had boomerangs and could conjure up magic rabbit holes in the ground. Toothiana was this hybrid of a hummingbird fairy woman that had millions of tiny versions of herself that collected the baby teeth of children. Sandy was a two foot tall man with golden robes made from golden sand that could morph into the dreams of sleeping kids. North was this large man with a long white beard and a pair of twin swords and magic snow globes.

There was no way Jack would mention these dreams to anyone.

They happened almost every night, and the fact that Sandy, Tooth, Aster, and North were always there was alarming to Jack.

Why would he even dream of stuff like this?

All of the teachers were very fond of the group of kids though. They thought that a group of teenagers willing to work that hard for children in their free time was something that should be seen as an example.

Then there was Jack.

The rambunctious teenager who had the most detentions in the school. He must have set a record or something. Even though being mischievous was fun, Jack had to tone it down a bit since he could only get a certain amount of detentions until he was kicked out of school. He also had to start working harder. Jack was actually a smart kid, he just didn't apply himself as much as he should and the teachers just thought he didn't pay attention in class. Sure there would times where Jack would skip school, but he would always find out what they had did that day in his absence.

The only thing the faculty staff knew about Jackson Frost was to watch out for any of his pranks or antics. They didn't know of his past, about his status as an orphan, or how lonely he was. There were times when Jack would get depressed from it but it passed after a few weeks, but there were times when he felt like he wasn't anyone at all. It was like he didn't exist. Being ignored and alone for almost all of his life really left a mark on Jack.

Jack should probably talk to someone about his problems, but he hasn't opened up to anyone in his entire life. He just smiled and pretended to be happy with himself while hiding away his sadness and longing. If Jack just kept his problems inside, everything would be fine.

But how could he be happy?

He drove his parents apart just by being born.

Jack was born the day before Easter, the same day as his parents' wedding. His mom had been pregnant with him for seven months and he finally popped after Elizabeth Frost said "I do." with Nathan Overland. Jackson Frost used to be Jackson Overland Frost until his parents got divorced when he was two, and it was because if him.

Jack had been drawing in the walls again, and he was whipped by a leather belt by his frustrated father who had just come home from a very irritating day at work. Soon enough, Elizabeth objected to Nathan's punishment to their two year old son. They were too busy arguing to notice that little Jack had gone to a corner to cry and that he was too young to even understand what he had done wrong.

When his parents were separated, the newly named Jackson Frost was cared for by his mother. Then he started causing more trouble, and he go into more trouble. It was just that his mom was always busy and there weren't any kids around to play with so Jack needed attention even if it was negative.

He was six years old when his mom started to lose interest in him.

She had cared and nurtured Jack for five years, and that only made it hurt more when she left. Knowing that his mom used to love him had hurt Jack the most. He remembered the day he was dropped off at the orphanage clearly. Jack was seven years old when his mom told him to wait outside the orphanage while she went to do some business with a friend from work.

Two days he waited there, hanging out in a tree waiting for her to come back.

She never did.

Three years passed and Jack was ten years old when the kids at the orphanage started calling him 'Snowhite'. That infernal nickname followed him to school. Everyone called him Snowhite because of his pale skin and white hair.

He hated it.

Jack had even tried to die his hair brown once so that they would stop but he still had the pale skin and icy blue eyes.

Then this one kid in his class, Kate Anthony, invited Jack to her birthday party. Kate was beautiful with long blonde hair and freckles. Jack was speechless knowing that someone actually wanted him in their presence.

Until he found out it was all lie.

It turns out Jack was supposed to deliver his invitation to Jack Collins, the other Jack in his class. Kate didn't want Jackson Frost at her party, she wanted Jack Collins. She even called Jack "Snowhite" like everyone else!

Jack Collins ended up going to the party instead of Jackson Frost who just stayed at the orphanage on that Saturday during winter. He was pouting about not being invited until there was a snow storm and the party he wasn't wanted at was cancelled.

That was the highlight if his childhood.

It was the only highlight of his childhood.

He never got anything for his birthday from the caretaker, Ms. Dawdson, because she hated Jack and all the grey hairs he given her with his unruly behavior. Besides, Easter followed his birthday and if Jack got double the treats it wouldn't be fair to everyone else. The holidays weren't much better. According to everyone else, Jack was a naughty child meaning that he would attain none of the Christmas presents that were donated to the orphanage.

Jack was eleven when he found out what had become of his parents. His mom had remarried some guy named Rick Bennett and she had a child with him named Jamie Bennett. Jamie got his looks from his father, brown hair with chocolate brown eyes. Jack got his looks from his mother, white hair with pale skin and bright blue eyes.

What hurt the most was when Jack would often see his mom and her new family around town very often. She looked so happy with her new son and new husband.

She was so happy without Jack, her first son.

Jack's dad wasn't much better. He remarried too and he now had a new wife named Beth Overland and a daughter named Pippa Overland.

His parents had moved on.

They had moved on and forgot about Jack, the reminder that their first marriage ended with divorce.

And Jack fell behind.

They didn't even say goodbye to him.

Jack had started to see Jamie and Pippa at Burgess Elementary, the same school he went to. Both Jamie and Pippa knew about the past of one half if their parents, but they didn't know that Jamie's mother and Pippa'a father had a child. They just knew that they were married and then got a divorce. The only reason the two children knew this was because their parents were paranoid that one might developer a crush on the other since they had met in school and soon became childhood friends.

None of them even thought about Jack.

The little mistake that ruined everything.

He ruined his parents marriage and many of the antiques in the orphanage. No wonder Ms. Dawdson hated him. Jack was sixteen when he moved into the attic, and he had no objections to it. His nickname of 'Snowhite' had stayed in the orphanage and people still called him that. If he stayed in his makeshift room, no one would be there to call him that stupid name.

He had lived a life where he was once cherished, but he was too young to enjoy it, and then he became too much if a burden. Jack didn't even bother to go see any people looking for adoption. He was currently seventeen years old, if no one had wanted him when he was a child, why would they want him as an independent teenager?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: aaah i dont know what to put here and i think im gonna stop with the disclaimers now since you all know that i do not own rise of the guardians or the cover art**

Chapter Three

But it was ironic, to be all alone with your thoughts and not realizing it until now. Jack could have reached out to someone, or asked for help, but he didn't. He never joined a group of friendly people because he knew he would just become that one person in the background who everyone seems to have forgotten about. No one ever asked him if he wanted to join them, and Jack never asked if he could.

Even with Sandy and his friends.

Jack knew that he wouldn't fit in with them, and there were more reasons to why he didn't talk to them other than his dreams. Two years ago, Jack had taken wood shop and before he was kicked out, he had seen times where North would get either frustrated or angry and that frightened Jack a little. He did not want to pick a fight with the large Russian because it was a fact that he would lose.

Then there was Aster, who wanted nothing to do with Jack.

And Tooth, she was always busy and Jack didn't want to interrupt her.

There were times when Jack could have gone over and talked to them but Sandy was always asleep, and Jack didn't want to face them alone. Another reason was that the group was always talking to one another and having a good time together. Jack didn't want to intrude them with his presence, and he didn't have to best social skills out there.

Jack had seen other kids try to join the group, like there was this one Irish kid who always wore green who tried to join them, but he was turned down because he didn't have the 'right qualities' or 'enough potential'. It was a good thing too because a day later he was arrested for shoplifting two days prior to his request.

Even though Jack knew that there was zero of a chance that he could join them, he still dropped some hints every so often. He had been dropping hints since his freshman year but nobody ever noticed any of them. That was okay, he was used to not being noticed by now.

Jack's chest had started to ache. He couldn't tell if it was his heart being sad or the after affects of being thrown off the bus. Either way, it hurt to breathe. Jack winced with every breath he took but it could be worse, right? At least he could still walk. Maybe he had just bruised his ribs? Nothing felt broken, but Jack knew he needed help.

Jack needed medical help.

The loner.

The little mistake that ruined everything.

The lonely little mistake who couldn't get help even if he tried.

He had told so many lies about being sick, teachers didn't even bother to send him down to the nurse's office since they knew that he was lying to get out of class. Besides, even if he went to the nurse's office, the nurse would want to get a proper look at Jack. This meant that he would have to take off his blue pullover hoodie. Jack wasn't even wearing a shirt under his hoodie, and if he took if off the nurse would surely see the scars on his wrist from years ago. The nurse would send him to guidance if she saw them, and Jack had been going through a phase when those scars were made. He really didn't want to have to deal with guidance counselors, and he really didn't have to. He could take care of himself.

Jack made an attempt to sigh but it only felt like he was being hugged by a python. The bell rang and he stumbled off of the bike racks and headed into the school. His heart pounded against his bruised chest as he disappeared into the crowd.

What if someone noticed his chest pains?

Thoughts swirled around in Jack's mind as he tried to consult with a solution. If he skipped a class, he could sneak down to the nurse's office, borrow some medical supplies, patch himself up in the bathroom, and slip back into class and go on with the day. Compared to Jack's idea that jumping onto a moving school bus, sneaking away to the nurse's office didn't sound too bad. It wasn't like he was stealing them for a prank or anything. He was just using them to take care of himself, and he was going to cut class for a good cost right?

/

"And you think he jumped onto the bus from that tree?" North asked. "Who would be crazy enough to do that?"

"Apparently Frost is. I told you North, he has no respect for anyone which includes himself. He's lucky that he only got a shiner on his head when he fell." Aster replied. He had heard a thump when the bus passed under that tree, and Jack fell from atop of the bus, meaning that he must have been the one to make that thumping noise. It all sounded like fiction that a teenager would jump out of a tree and onto a moving bus to get to school, but it was Jack Frost, who else would be stupid enough to do something like that? Couldn't he just go ask his parents for a ride to school?

"Im tellin ya North, Frost could have made us all late or even make the bus driver get fired."

"Well he's got guts I'll give him that."

"Well, Tooth and I wouldn't even be on the bus if you hadn't forgotten to pick us up."

"I was running late! I spent all of last night in the garage working."

"Christmas isn't for months! It's Easter that's comin up. Anyway, what do you think Tooth?"

Aster turned to Toothiana and waited for her response.

"What do I think about what?"

"Bout that little stunt Frost pulled."

"Well, he was running late and that probably caused his brain to rush into thinking if something like that. What about you Sandy?"

The smaller boy nodded at Tooth's remark as they made their way through the crowded hallways. The bell had rung minutes ago and they all needed to get to homeroom in time. They reached a cross section in the halls where they all split in separate directions where their lockers were. All four if them had the same homeroom, so they could finish their discussion then.

Being only four eleven, Sandy had a hard time getting to his locker. Everyone around him was at least five inches taller than he was and they didn't look down when walking. A few teens that smelt of acne cream and cologne nearly tripped over Sandy as he moved farther. Transitions were always hard for Sandy. Because he was mute, he couldn't tell anyone to move or apologize to anyone he was shoved into.

After battling his way through the halls, the golden haired teen began to put in his locker combination and it clicked open. Sandy noticed a large amount if blue and white from the corner of his eye and his head turned to see his locker neighbor, Jack, stagger to his locker. His blue hood was obscuring his face as he kept his gaze low while quietly putting in his combination.

Sandy made a note that Jack looked like he was experiencing discomfort. The boy would always cringe or grimace whenever someone brushed passed him. He also looked, sad, as if he was lamenting on thoughts that brought him down. Pulling out his notepad, Sandy scrawled a message in his neat cursive handwriting using a pen with golden ink. He then proceeded to tap Jack on the shoulder but stopped midway.

What if Jack really was injured?

From how Tooth and Aster described the events on their ride to school, Jack's ungraceful landing was not kind to him. Deciding not to actually touch Jack's body, Sandy tugged on the albino's blue sleeve.

Jack sucked in a breath when he felt something pull on his hoodie. Spinning on his heels, he wheezed out a sigh of relief at seeing that it was only Sandy. Jack immediately regretted moving so abruptly as a sharp pain rippled through his body. He fought back the urge to fall as he looked into Sandy's eyes.

"Yes? What is it Sandy?"

Sandy held up his notebook and written on it were the following words:_ Are you okay?_

Jack blinked a few times before smiling down at Sandy.

"Yeah of course I'm fine. Never been better."

Sandy pursed his lips before writing another message:

_You seem kinda down._

"Nah everything's fine."

Jack closed his locker and picked up his tattered backpack. He didn't bother to swing it around his shoulder, his chest was still hurting and he was hoping that his little chat with Sandy would end soon so that he could leave. Homeroom was in five minutes, giving Jack five minutes to stealthily sneak down to the nurse's office. "See you in class Sandy." he said before waving goodbye. Sandy watched as Jack made his way through the hall striding like he always does, except this time, he was much slower. The smaller boy could tell Jack was lying, it was written clearly in his eyes that he was hiding something.

Taking one glance at the clock in the hallway, Sandy realized that he would be late to class if he didn't leave now. Closing his locker, he started to run through the halls not caring if a teacher saw him. Just because he was a narcoleptic mute didn't mean that he could get excused for everything at school. Sandy let out a breath at seeing the entrance to his advanced English class. His parents had put him in this class, but the golden haired teen didn't mind since all of his friends were with him here.

"Over here Sandy!" Toothiana called from across the room. She was with North and Aster waiting for Sandy to come join them. They all motioned him to come forward Sandy obliged as he walked through the aisle of desks. Taking a closer look around, Sandy noticed that Jack wasn't there. He had homeroom with Jack and the albino would always sit in the very back seat. Jack had walked off before Sandy, shouldn't he already be here? Then again, he could be cutting class again or taking more detours in the hallway. Jack was known to be fashionably late to almost every class of his, and nobody ever knew why. It was a different excuse every time and no one could tell which excuses were true and which excuses were false. Sandy looked at the clock in the room and saw that homeroom didn't start for another three minutes giving Jack some more time to arrive.

/

Jack weaved in and out of the hallways. Why were there so many people in this school? There were probably five hundred people in the hallway alone and three thousand more scattered around the school. They needed a new plague or something to get rid of the overcrowding. Jack knew that he shouldn't make jokes about plagues, but nobody taught him better. It wasn't like he had friends or parents to scold him at school and it was true. There were way too many people at Burgess High and they either needed to expand the building, or get rid of half the students here.

The hallways started to clear as the sound of the bell ringing filled Jack's ears. Looks like he would have to take out his fake hall pass again. He felt around in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He held it as he continued to walk unsteadily through the halls and to the nurse's office.

When he had finally reached his destination, Jack saw that the school nurse, Ms. Questant, was seated at her desk typing away. She was a tall and slender woman with short light hair that was similar to Jack's but there was a faint trace of blonde fibers mixed in with it. She also had pale skin but the way it looked made Ms. Questant look rather stunning instead of like a dead corpse. Behind her was the closet that held the medical supplies that were closed with a silver lock and the keys happened to be on the desk. Ms. Questant was one of the many staff workers at the school who had no tolerance for people like Jack, and it was mostly because of the amount of times he's lied to her about being injured or sick. He knew that if he went into her office and told her his chest was hurting from falling off of a bus, she would pass it off as another excuse and send him straight to class without questions.

Jack needed a distraction, and a smirk tugged at his lips when he came up with a bright idea. There was a vase of flowers at the back of the room. Well, it wasn't flowers but instead an aloe plant but the point is that it was held in a vase, a vase that could be broken.

Jack moved over to one of the potted plants in the hallway and picked up two stones out of it. The school wouldn't miss one vase right? He held one stone in his hand as he aimed for the vase across the room. If he broke the vase, Ms. Questant would leave her desk to see what happened. If she left her desk, Jack could swiftly pick up the keys, unlock the closet, get some supplies, and sneak out before anyone could even notice.

Aiming for the vase, Jack threw the stone as hard as he could. The projectile whizzed pass the vase and flew straight through the window shattering the glass noisily.

Oops.

How could he have missed? He threw snowballs almost every day during winter, shouldn't he have perfect aim? Then again, stones weighed a lot more than balls of snow.

As expected, Ms. Questant shot up from her desk to see what had caused the window in her office to suddenly break. Jack did feel a little guilty about breaking school property, but he had to stick to his plan as he quickly tiptoed into the office and snatched the keys off of the desk. He hurried to the closet and unlocked it as he heard the nurse mutter to herself while examining the broken glass. Slipping inside, Jack realized he had no idea what he was supposed to grab. He's healed himself before, but he's never had to heal something inside of his chest.

He began to hear more footsteps and Jack panicked as he closed the closet door. Opening it by just a crack, Jack looked out with one eye as he saw one of the school custodians, Mr. Keeper come in. He was a short man with wide shoulders, light skin, and a shiny hairless head. Jack could hear the two discuss but they were talking too quietly for him to understand. He had to get out fast. There were now two people in the nurse's office that Jack had to slip past, and it was a good thing he had grabbed two stones. Snatching a role of ace bandages and shoving it into his pocket, Jack threw his remaining stone and this time it did hit the vase startling the two adults.

In their confusion, Jack ran out of the closet, threw the keys back onto the desk, and made a hasty retreat. He had done it, part one of his scheme was complete. Now all he had to do was head to the nearest bathroom and then get to class. The halls were as silent as a ghost town as Jack shifted through them. The only sound was his footsteps on the hard floor as he entered a bathroom. Locking himself in a handicap stall, Jack put down his backpack and took off his pullover. Taking the bandages he had stolen, he took deep breathes as he wrapped them tightly around his upper torso.

Jack didn't know why he had just done that, but it sure seemed to help somehow. With his chest tightly wrapped, the albino put his hoodie back on and walked out of the bathroom as if he had never gotten hurt in the first place. He knew that he would have to take it easy for the next few days, and that he will most likely wake up tomorrow feeling even worse, but he would deal with those problems later.

As Jack proceeded to head down to homeroom, hr heard the morning announcements echo through the empty halls and that was when Jack noticed that he had forgotten his homework in his locker.

Dang it.

He would have to go back to his locker and get his homework before showing up to class. It didn't matter that much though, homeroom had started and Jack would be late either way.

The skinny boy sighed and went to his locker. He entered his combination and leaned down to pick up his homework from the bottom. As he bent down, Jack was unaware of the two boys behind him cutting class as they approached him. They saw Jack as prey, and one signaled something to the other as they both started to grin to each other. Just was Jack straightened up, he feel two hands shove him forward and he fell into his locker. Before he could do anything, the locker door slammed close and Jack could hear the sound of two people laughing as they walked off.

"Aw man Gerald that was priceless!"

"Yeah that kid didn't even see it coming!"

Jack banged on his locker door shouting but the two boys just ignored him as they walked off.

Well isn't this just great.

No, this is fantastic.

First he missed the bus, then he fell off the bus, and now he's been shoved into his own locker.

Jack sighed as he leaned in his locker door. Why did he have to be thin enough to fit inside these things anyway?

/

The morning announcements had just ended but nobody seemed to notice. Everyone in the class seemed to be in heated conversations with each other and they never bothered to listen anyways. Two of the teenagers having a discussion happened to be North and Aster arguing again. It was nothing serious, just some light hearted fun at teasing each other. North was in the middle of a sentence when he felt Sandy tap on his shoulder.

"What is it Sandy?"

Writing down his reply, Sandy thrust his notepad into North's hands as the Russian read it.

"Have I seen Jack come in yet? No, I haven't seen him."

Aster noticed how Sandy suddenly brought up the topic of Jack and he knew that they were about to discuss the albino again. "What's the big deal about that bloke anyway? He's probably just late again or skipping." he said crossing his arms. Moments later, Tooth had joined in the conversation as well.

"Come on Aster, think about it. Maybe Jack really was hurt and he's down at the nurse's office."

"He was fine the last time we saw him."

Their talk was cut short when their teacher, Mr. Ombric, walked in. Mr. Ombric was an old man, in his late fifties, and he should be retiring soon. He had a white long beard that made him look like a wizard more than a teacher and his crescent moon spectacles only added to it. The old man began to take attendance of his class, and he had a note in his hands that was a reminder that he needed to talk to a certain student, Jackson Frost.

"Has anyone seen Jack Frost lately? I have some urgent news to tell him." he asked his students. There was a mixture if slurred comments along the lines of; "Yes, he's here today." or "Wasn't he that kid who fell off the bus?" but almost all of them were "Who's Jack Frost?"

Jack sat in the back off all of his classes, alone, where nobody could bother him. Not too many people even noticed he was there. He just mixed in with the crowd that would act like a smart ass to the teachers making their jobs even more difficult.

Mr. Ombric turned his attention to North.

"Nicholas, would you mind seeing if Jack is out in the hallways?"

"Certainly, Mr. Ombric."

North rise out of his seat, received a hall pass, and went out if the door and into the hallway. His black boots carried his large body through the silent halls. Turning a corner, North walked through the building using his gut feeling about where Jack may be. He checked the bathrooms, janitor's closet, empty classrooms, and wherever Jack could be hiding but there wasn't a single trace of the white haired loner. It wasn't until he passed the hallway where Sandy's locker was he heard the sound of somebody hammering their fist on a metal door. "Hey is anyone even out there?" a muffled voice spoke out. North walked to the locker with a shaking door where the familiar sounding voice was calling out.

It continued to speak as North examined it closer.

"Hello? Anyone? Seriously can someone open this stupid locker?"

Gears cranked in North's head as he made out who the voice belonged to.

"Jack? Is that you?"

"No, it's Santa Clause. Yes of course it's me!"

"What are you doing inside a locker?"

"Some jerk shoved me in here."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because I love being shoved into my locker and having the door slammed in my face."

Jack had been frustrated enough, and he had made sure to put extra sarcasm in that last sentence.

"Really? That's odd, why would you love such a thing as that?"

Jack banged his head on the locker aggravated. Why did he have to be in such a situation? Why did he have to be so darn thin? Maybe it was because of the food provided at the orphanage. It tasted terrible, and what actually did have flavor barely provided nothing your body could use.

"Hey can you get me out of here?"

"I don't think so, it's not my locker."

"Are there any paper clips around?"

"There is one on the floor that someone must have dropped, why?"

"Because maybe I could direct you how to pick the lock."

"I see a custodian coming, I'll go get help from them."

"Hurry up I hate it in here."

"But you said-"

"I was being sarcastic. Now are you just going to stand there or move?"

"Alright alright. Stay here while I go get them."

Jack rolled his eyes as he heard North jog through the hallway and talk to the custodian. Within minutes they returned and Jack toppled out of his locker and landed on the floor. Apparently he had been leaning on the door when it swung open and the pain in his chest returned.

As his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light, Jack saw North thank the custodian who happened to be Mr. Keeper from before. Mr. Keeper nodded to them before walking away leaving only the Russian and the albino. Jack grabbed his backpack and his homework as he got back on his feet. "Thanks." he said while brushing off some dust from his pants.

North's big blue eyes scanned Jack for the first time because he had never been so close to the boy before. He was just now noticing how scrawny Jack really was and that his untied shoelaces were in a tangled mess.

"So, are we heading to class now?"

"Yes, and can I ask you something Jack?"

"If it's about my hair, no, it is not hair dye and I do not wash it with bleach."

North laughed at Jack's snarky remark before returning to his conversation.

"No no, it is not about your hair."

"Oh, then what?"

"It's just, your shoelaces. They are in such big mess don't you trip over them?"

"No."

"But-"

"Don't worry about it."

Before North could say anything else, Jack started walking back to class unaware that what was in store for him today would change his life forever.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey guys guess what? i hear that dreamworks is thinkin about making a sequel to rise of the guardians ****_or_**** a tv show and im not quite sure how i should feel about this but then again it was just a rumor i saw on tumblr and i also heard RotG is the second most pirated film but theyre only rumors  
**

**oh, and if any of you want to see the full image of the cover art heres the link (just add periods where the commas are)**

** mossmallow,tumblr,com/post/35758219421/asjdkf-asjdkf-asdlfjalsd-ohmygod-guys**

Chapter Four

Pitch Black is a young man in his early thirties who works at an infernal high school in the middle of Burgess. He's a teacher assistant who has to deal with knowing that he has to work at the school that Sanderson Mansnoozie and his stupid little group of overachieving do gooders attend. Pitch loathed those kids, and they loathed him.

The tall man was walking through the hallways, alone. He was on hall patrol, meaning that he was in charge of making sure no one was skipping classes. This job wasn't the most exciting, but there were times he would run into that Frost kid a lot. Pitch continued to walk down the halls and he passed the classroom where Sandy and his friends were resigning. He scowled as he looked through the window in the door and saw Sandy sleeping on his desk.

Everybody loved them, they could get away with anything.

Those kids could set off a nuclear bomb and everyone would still love them.

They could murder the president and they'd still be let off the hook.

Then there was Jack, the lonely orphan. Pitch was sure that he was the only person in the school besides the principal who knew that Jack was an orphan. Even Sandy and his friends didn't know, and they were supposed to give children a happy cause. Jack was seventeen, technically still a kid who was still in school.

And how did he know that Jack was an orphan?

It was simple really, Pitch's home was placed behind the orphanage and everyday he would hear the annoying sounds of children laughing and playing with one another. He had occasionally seen Jack run out of the orphanage to go play in the woods near the park. It wasn't that Pitch had potentially chosen to live behind the building, it was just that one year after he moved in to Burgess the city decided to build an orphanage in front of his house.

He once had a child of his own, a daughter.

He also had a wife too.

It was back when he was younger, in his early twenties, that his daughter was born.

Of course, Pitch was in the army back then, and his daughter was still a baby.

There was a war, and Pitch was a high ranking general who as guarding the prisoners. They were fierce though and very sly. Every night they would try to convince Pitch to let them out, but Pitch never gave in to their requests.

Until the prison riot.

It was during that riot, that the prison was taken over by the criminals they were holding captive. Pitch was one of the many guards who were thrown in the cells and he was tortured by the prisoners he was supposed to be watching over.

A full month passed before help had arrived, and Pitch Black, the general, was tortured for that full month. He had changed by then, his prisoners had converted him into something evil. During those painful days, he had lost hope and faith. They had sucked out every good action he had in his body leaving him an empty shell.

An empty shell that they filled.

Pitch Black was not who he used to be anymore. All of his hopes were torn away and replaced by fear and darkness. It was while he was being rescued, he had escaped. It was very simple to escape though, all he had to do was betray those saving him and all of the men helping him had met an abrupt end. Pitch had abandoned the side he was once fighting so courageously for, he was a madman. He traveled back home, to see his daughter but his wife had other plans. She had seen the monster that her husband had turned into, she was told that her husband was suspected of murdering those only trying to help, and that was when she filed a divorce taking away everything from him.

Including their child.

Pitch was devastated, he was a monster without a family anymore.

He was alone.

Everyone he had cared about was swept away from him by cruel fate.

For ten years Pitch remained alone, with no friends or family. He had found another job at an English Prep school but was quickly fired when his punishments to the children were too severe for school standards.

Deciding to start new, Pitch moved to Burgess and even got a job at the local high school. He enjoyed watching the misery and suffering if the teenagers there. All of their angst and drama was what fueled him to continue. Knowing that there were people out there, younger than he was, facing agony as painful as his was relaxing to his sadistic mind.

Until they showed up.

Sanderson Mansnoozie, Nicholas St. North, E. Aster Bunnymund, and Toothiana Fairie.

It was during the group's freshmen year they had changed everything around. With their petty holiday events and little gifts to everyone, they had made the students happy.

And Pitch hated them.

Everything that he had enjoyed in his job was erased by those fools.

He had done everything to sabotage their functions, and the group quickly caught on to him. They became foes after that. Pitch Black against the tryhards. None of them were even aware of his past, and none of them were warm enough to him to even care. They just saw him as someone to watch out for.

This year was going to be different.

This year, he will be the one turning the tables on them.

/

Jack and North entered the classroom. Both teens sat at their desks but Mr. Ombric was quick to call Jack over. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice for the teen to hear.

"Jack, would come out with me to the hallway for a second? There is something we must discuss."

Jack rolled his eyes. He was just in the hallway and now he had to go back out. Rising from his seat, he wondered what he had done this time to be called out by his homeroom teacher. Mr. Ombric opened the door for Jack to walk through and he closed it once the boy had done so. "So, what did I do this time?" Jack questioned with his voice trailing off as if he wasn't paying attention. He had been called out into the halls do many times, this meeting was no different. Mr. Ombric stared down at the boy completely sober as he began to talk.

"It is not a matter of what you did, but a matter what you are about to do."

"And that would be?"

"Listen young lad, you are in high school-"

"Gee, tell me something I don't know."

"Watch that attitude of yours mister, or else you will be in more trouble than you think. Anyway, as I was saying, you are in high school, a school system. Now, as we all know, you do not have the cleanest record."

"Pfft. It's cleaner than-"

"None of your rude interruptions right now Jack, this is a serious matter. You should be thankful that you're even still in school. Most students with your kind of behavior would have ended up in a delinquent center by now. Like I was saying before, you have a vast amount of detentions and that will not cut it. You have zero hours of community service and you need to be active within your community more often."

"You're not going to make start volunteering at retirement homes are you?"

"No, but rather you will be put within a group that I know will help you gain enough hours of community service to graduate."

Jack's heart began to best faster. He had a hunch about where this was going, and who he may have to start working with.

"A-And what group would that be?"

"Well, I'm sure you're aware of North and his friends."

Oh no. No, no this can't be happening.

"Y-You mean that you're going to make me, work with them?"

"Their annual Easter Egg Hunt is approaching, and I'm sure they won't mind an extra hand around to help."

"Have you even passed this by them yet?"

"I will be meeting with them during free period, and we shall continue this talk during that time. I expect to see you back here so that we can clear this out with them."

Mr. Ombric walked back into the classroom leaving Jack standing in the hallway in complete shock.

/

He couldn't focus at all in class. How could he? His entire life, his lonely little life, was about to change. He was expected to work with them? The people he had been avoiding for so long? And they didn't even know about it yet? What on earth was Mr. Ombric thinking? Had someone put something in his morning coffee?

Jack rested his head on his desk, using his open textbook as a pillow. The whole class was silent as they did their book work all except for Jack. He closed his eyes and began to rethink his situation again.

He had zero community service hours, and a not so clean school record.

All of that had to change, so he had no choice but to work with North and his friends.

Maybe he could opt out of it somehow?

Jack was suddenly distracted when his stomach growled like a pack of hungry wolves. His stomach broke the silence of the classroom. Jack shrunk into his seat clutching his stomach attempting to quiet it down. Some people were staring now, and nobody said a word. Jack hasn't eaten anything since he woke up today, and lunch wasn't until after his next class. After lunch, he would have free period meaning he'd have to come back here and face his soon to be coworkers.

His stomach made more noise and Jack tried to ignore the pairs of eyes locked onto him. Why can't he just be invisible? Then he wouldn't have to deal with half the class staring at him while he was starving at his desk.

Burying his thoughts into something else, Jack switched to thinking about his dreams. They were the dreams that he's been having every night for the past few weeks. They were actually really entertaining, and this dream version of him had done a lot more that Jack could ever imagine of accomplishing. Jack's dream self had risen from a frozen lake in colonial Burgess and was even contacted by the moon once. Now Jack found that being told your name by the moon was a little crazy, but his dreams were far from dull. When his dream self had been near living people, they would just walk right through him making him shudder knowing that he didn't exist.

In reality, Jack was invisible to almost everyone as well.

Of course, that had a major impact on his life. If he did something noticeable, then people would notice him, but it only worked when he did something daring or bad. Jack could win the noble peace prize and nobody would notice but if he put blue die in the school's swimming pool, then they would notice that it was him. He had learned that from experience since he really did fill the school's pool with blue die before. He and many other students found it hilarious. The swim team however, did not.

Although causing mayhem made him knowledgeable, it was also a curse. Back when Jack was still in wood shop, one of the shelves holding the planks of wood gave away causing everything it was holding to fall to the floor. Jack just happened to be in the room at the precise moment and they needed someone to blame, and that someone was him. Jack honestly had no idea how that shelf fell but it was probably due to old age because he knew for a fact that he did not sabotage it. However, nobody believed him and he ended up getting detention.

He was just that one kid that made a mess of everything. He couldn't actually help anyone without ruining everything.

The first year he had taken cooking, he was instructed to store the food for the class in the refrigerator. It turns out that the refrigerator had broken down so Jack just stashed the food away in the freezer. That was a mistake. All of the food ended up getting freezer burn because of him and he received another detention despite the fact that it was an honest mistake. Although he had ruined the food, Jack had found it pretty amusing since his last name was Frost and he had frozen all of the food like how his dream self can control winter and snowfall.

Everyone suddenly began to rise out of their seats and Jack was snapped out of his thoughts once again. He hadn't even heard Mr. Ombric dismiss them, but Jack just picked up his things and moved to his next class.

/

Homeroom had ended an hour ago, and Jack was in his trigonometry class. He wasn't fond of he topic, but when he became and adult he would actually have to use math in his life.

They were taking a test, that Jack had not studied for. He never studies for tests or quizzes of any kind, but he had actually payed attention in class this time instead of zoning out like he usually does so he was confident in what he was doing. This test grade counted for fifty percent of their grade, and Jack may even get an A in this class for once. Jack suddenly looked up from his test when he heard some kids mumbling to each other across the room. What were they saying? Were they cheating?

No, he had to focus.

Concentrating, Jack finished the second page of his test and suddenly felt like a genius for breezing through it so easily. He began to solve the next problem but his hand froze on the paper. What's five multiplied by eight? Jack knew that he already knew the answer but his brain was lagging out at the moment making him forget. Skipping that question, Jack started to read a lengthy word problem. He read the first two sentences before his mind flew astray again. Last night 'Beauty and the Beast' came on the television at the orphanage. It was an animated Disney movie which meant that there would be some sort of musical number.

_Be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test._

Oh, that was right, he had a test to do. Jack loudly flipped over his packet of math problems and he smirked knowing that everyone had heard Jack Frost advance further into the test faster than they were. He just wished that Aster was here to see him progress in this test. The albino was suddenly feeling like he was on top of the world soaring through his test. He was strong and independent and he didn't need any friends. Technically he wasn't that physically strong and he was always independent and he had no friends at school but that didn't mean he could use it as a distraction from his school work.

Wait, what if someone in the classroom could read minds? Becoming distracted once again, Jack glanced around the room wondering if anyone here could actually read his mind. What if everyone was reading his mind? They're all probably thinking, "Nobody tell that albino kid we can read his mind."

No, that was a stupid idea. It was more idiotic than his plan to jump on the bus just because he had missed it again. He only had three more word problems to solve. Did he learn how to do these? Who the heck buys fifty watermelons? Jack doesn't know who writes these math problems, but they sure didn't make any sense to him. He could do this, all he had to do was focus and apply himself.

Will the girl behind him please breathe more quietly? How could he focus if all he heard was this wheezing girl sitting in the seat behind him?

Jack shook his head and decided to circle answer C for the remaining questions as he turned in his test.

"Three more minutes." the teacher, Mrs. Valles, announced to her class.

The albino's stomached growled again and he clutched it trying to get it to shut up. Why does his stomach have to be so loud whenever the classroom is dead silent? Jack could feel people looking up from their work to stare at him as his stomach made more noise.

"Time is up class. Finished or not please turn in your tests and then take out a sheet of paper to take notes."

Pulling out a sheet of notebook paper, Jack looked to see Mrs. Valles write a problem on the chalkboard. Then she turned to the class and said, "Now, do I have any volunteers who would like to come up and find x?"

An array of hands shot up while Jack kept his down. He knew how to solve the problem, but he just didn't want to.

"Jack, could you please come up and find x?"

The scrawny boy sighed before getting out of his seat. He walked up to the board and circled x in the problem.

"Found it."

"That's not what I meant,"

"You said to find x, so I did."

"I meant can you solve for x."

"Then why didn't you just say so? And why are you asking me? Aren't you the teacher here who's supposed to be teaching the class?"

There was an eruption of light hearted laughs coming from half of the class and Jack smirked while Mrs. Valles sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose questioning why she even thought Jack would obey her this time.

"Jack, I think you should sit down."

Jack obliged as he took a seat on the floor where he was standing. His antics were followed by even more laughter from the class.

"Mr. Frost, I am starting to lose my patience with you. Now will you please take your seat at your desk!"

Jack just shrugged as he returned to his seat.

The rest if the class went by very slow for him. Every second that passed felt like hours to Jack. His eyes were kept on the clock as the minutes ticked by. After this he would have lunch, meaning that he could finally get something to eat.

"Alright, class dismissed."

Everyone in the class shuffled around while exiting the room. "Finally." Jack muttered under his breath as he walked to lunch.

/

It was nice outside, it was cold and there was snow on the grounds. Jack decided to eat his lunch outside today which basically consisted of an apple and a carton of milk. It wasn't much if a lunch but it seemed like a feast compared to the other food the cafeteria served. Jack only picked out what he knew what was actually food. The pizza they were serving looked like it was made if rubber latex while their salads looked like paper. Even the fries the school served looked like they were made of sand. Even if there was actual edible food in the cafeteria, Jack still wouldn't eat it. The lunch ladies' grey hairs always found a way into and food they serve you while the trays looked as if they were just wiped off with a car rag instead if actually being washed.

Besides, Jack barely had any lunch money in his account. He didn't have a job and all the money the orphanage gave him was nothing but a few dollars every three weeks.

Jack sat down on the steps as he took a bite into his green apple. He didn't even mind that the concrete steps under him were frozen, he was just glad to be outside the school walls. Spending a couple hours in there already had been torture enough for him. Jack wasn't an indoors person, he preferred to be foot loose and outside whenever he could.

There was nobody else outside eating lunch, and Jack perfectly fine with that. He bit into his apple once again and tore off a large portion of it. The winter wind blew against his face and nipped at his nose as he chewed on his food. His small carton of white milk was resting besides his leg as he stared up at the clouds. Whenever ate lunch outside alone, everything seemed to be at peace. No one was around to pass him by or tease him or to yell at him.

The world seemed to fade away from Jack as his eyes were fixated amongst the fluffy white clouds floating over his head. One cloud looked like a dolphin, another like a snow rabbit.

He was glad to have this time to himself, socializing with the people his age was so complicated.

/

Aster walked over to his friends with his vegetarian lunch. They still had a lot of work to do for the annual Easter Egg Hunt, such as finish the two hundred eggs they still had to make, paint, and fill with an assortment of small prizes. Easter was in a few days, and hopefully they would get everything done as long as they didn't get distracted. North and Tooth were already having a conversation by the time Aster had arrived to sit down with them.

"We all know that the kids love the Christmas Festivals more the the egg hunts."

"Now listen North, we all know that Easter is just as important to Aster as Christmas is to you."

"I'm just stating my opinion."

While his friends chatted away, Sandy's attention was elsewhere. He was gazing out the window, and he could clearly see Jack eating outside alone in the steps. Why would he eat outside? It's freezing out there and Jack is just wearing a pullover hoodie with torn up pants and shoes. Jack just looked so lonely out there. He was quiet and still while he bit into a green apple.

The sound of an Australian accent and a Russian accent talking to each other had begun to dominate all other conversations while Tooth glanced over to Sandy. She saw him focused on something outside and tapped the smaller boy on the shoulder.

"Watcha looking at Sandy?"

Sandy pointed to Jack outside on the steps.

"Is, is that Jack out there? What's he doing out there all by himself?"

Sandy just shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure he's not sitting alone all the time during lunch right? Maybe he's just waiting for someone?"

Tooth was answered with Sandy shaking his head and she frowned.

"But, he's so outgoing and shouldn't he have at least one friend with him out there?"

Come to think of it, Tooth had never actually seen Jack hang out with anyone at school. There were times when he'd talk to Sandy sometimes and other moments when he would annoy Aster, but other than that she had never seen him interact with anyone else. Was Jack really so alone in his senior year?

"Oi, what are you two talkin about now?" Aster asked from across the table. Sandy pointed out the window once again to where Jack was.

"Oh, never mind you're just talkin 'bout Frost again aren't ya?"

Sandy nodded and Aster just returned to his lunch. North, however, seemed to be far more interested.

"Don't mind Aster, he's just being a grumpy bunny. So, what were you two saying?"

Tooth turned away from the window as well as Sandy and both of them faced North.

"Oh, Sandy and I were thinking about how independent Jack is here at school but he must have some friends out of school right? Who knows, maybe he could be the social butterfly of his neighborhood."

"Well, I've never really kept my eye on Jack before but I bet you're right. If he's alone here, then he must have friends at home."

"See Sandy? Jack probably has loads if friends back at his home. I see him come out of the neighborhood where the orphanage is, maybe he plays with the kids there? Jack is pretty wild, and he looks just- I mean, and he uh, there's nothing to worry about."

Tooth nearly told her friends how attractive Jack looked but she caught herself mid sentence. A part if her was glad that Jack wasn't always surrounded by people because that meant he may be surrounded by other females. Tooth had seen some freshmen girls lustfully staring at Jack one time, and that did make her heart beat a little faster. Right now Jack was alone, meaning that he was easy prey for anyone.

/

Jack tossed his finished apple aside and opened his carton of milk. He took one sip of it before spitting it back out into the snow. This tasted terrible! Looking at the label on the carton, Jack's eyes narrowed as he read the tiny print. It was so typical that he would be the one to waste his lunch money on expired milk. Jack just frowned as he walked off of the steps and over to the trashcan. He looked at the ice on the ground and he didn't realize he was just about to walk into someone.

"Hey watch it!"

Jack looked up to see a tall, broad male glaring at him. He had dark brown hair that was soaked in grease and a black leather jacket hugging his body. Behind him stood two other boys and the one on the left had face piercings while the one on the right just looked like he a large intake of weed minutes ago.

"Oh sorry." Jack said as he brushed pass them. His day was bad enough, he didn't need to get into any fights. He turned around to get one last look at the group. That guy's voice sounded so familiar, as if he had heard it before.

"Hey Gerald wasn't that the match girl we shoved into the locker earlier today?"

"Yeah I think so."

The albino clenched his fists. Match girl? Where did that come from? How was Jack a match girl? Shooting a mean look at Gerald and his other two friends, Jack leaned down and picked up a clump of snow. This would teach them to shove him into his locker. This would show them not to call Jackson Frost a match girl. Taking aim, Jack threw the snowball as hard as he could and he smiled when he hit his target.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:omg i am so emabrassed i forgot to put the song lyrics at the beginning of chapter 2 so if you go back now, you will see them there  
**

Chapter Five

_We kill the lights and put on a show_  
_ It's all a lie_  
_ But you'd never know_  
_ The star will shine_  
_ And then it will fall_  
_ And you will forget it all_

Gerald spun around with snow on the back of his head sinking down into his jacket. He made direct eye contact with Jack who had a crooked smile on his face.

"Did you throw that?"

"It wasn't the wind."

Jack winked at Gerald which only infuriated the teen more. Gerald charged at Jack but the albino side stepped and threw another snowball at his attacker. Jack was nimble his feet as he jumped onto the stairs to continuing taunting his antagonist. He stuck out his tongue and made faces at Gerald who quickly ran over to Jack. "I'm going to smack that look off of your face!" he yelled as he ran over the frozen ground.

He didn't realize that this was what Jack wanted him to do. Jack stood in front of the metal rails on the stairs and rolled onto his side just as Gerald sprinted towards him. He swiftly held out his legs out and Gerald tripped over them causing him to fall. The teen let out a yell which turned out to be a bad idea because his tongue brushed against the metal rails and stuck there while Jack just laughed.

"Oh my gosh I can't believe you just fell for that!" Jack said as he watched Gerald squirm trying to pry off his frozen tongue. Behind him, one of Gerald's friends, James, decided to join into the fight and crept behind Jack ready to throw a bunch at the teen. Jack could hear snow crunching behind him, and he turned to see James swing at his head but he ducked just in time to avoid it. He used his agility to roll under James and he pushed he teen forward.

James collapse onto the ground and Jack threw a snowball at his face. Frustrated, James tackled Jack and they both fell to the snow covered ground. They wrestled in the snow for a bit before Jack promptly stood back up. "It's been fun playing with you ballerinas, but It have to go now." he said while taking a bow. He then ran off cackling while James attempted to chase after him but he only tripped again. "The hell?" he muttered as he looked down to see that his shoelaces were knotted together. He swore out loud as he fumbled to untie them while Gerald remained on the stairs with his tongue frozen to the railing. His third friend, Anthony, just watched them speechless about what Jack had just done. Of course, nobody else had seen Jack.

/

Jack ran inside the school still laughing. He had a fun time having revenge on those boys even though it took up the rest of his lunch time. The bell rang and Jack's good mood suddenly spiraled downwards. It was time for his free period, meaning it was time to join North and his friends. He was in no hurry to face his fate, he took his time walking through the halls as he made his way back to Mr. Ombric's room. Maybe if he took long enough everyone else would have already had a discussion and then leave. Jack really didn't want to be the first person there. He slowly walked up to Mr. Ombric's classroom thinking about if he should just skip this or not. If he decided to skip, they would only come looking for him. He didn't even have time to make a decision before Mr. Ombric spotted him.

"Ah! Jack, good to see you've come. You're early so just take a seat and we'll wait for the others to arrive."

The albino face palmed. It was bad enough that he actually had to go through with this, but now he would have to wait for everyone else to arrive as well. Today was not his lucky day. Jack took a seat at the desk closest to the door just in case he had to make a hasty exit. He sat in silence really wishing that there was a fire drill at the moment or anything to get him out of here. Mr. Ombric sat at his desk grading papers while still watching Jack like a hawk. Everyone knew that Jack was a slippery one, and he was going to make sure that Jack wouldn't slip away this time.

North was the first of the gang to arrive. "Mr. Ombric you wanted to see me in free period?" he said while sticking his head into the classroom. The teacher nodded his old and wise head before pointing to the desks signaling that North should take a set and wait of the others. North nodded and took the seat two desks from Jack. Jack kept his hood up and head down hoping that North would just think of him as being in trouble and not the person about to join forces with him. It seemed to have worked considering that North didn't say a word to Jack.

Aster and Toothiana were next to come. They saw North and sat down with him. Aster passed Jack off as just a student and nothing special as he took his seat. He didn't even look at Jack unlike Tooth who happily waved at him. Jack looked up to see Tooth's small hand move in the air and didn't know how to respond. He wasn't a social butterfly at his high school, meaning that he did not have much experience with females if his age.

Doing what he always does, Jack just smiled and waved hoping that nobody would start a conversation with him. He had no desire to even be here right now, and he wasn't planning on making any new comrades or friends any time soon.

Jack drowned out the sounds of the other three teens chatting away. Why him? Why did he, the loner; have to do this? Jack wanted to hide, he wanted to scream, he wanted to reach out to Mr. Ombric and scream all of the reasons why he didn't want to join the group but he couldn't.

He had never told a soul about his dreams, and he never will. They've been reoccurring and if he ever described to anyone how real they were, he may be sent to an asylum. All of these emotions being locked inside of Jack was eating away at his mind. It was like he was drowning, and everyone around him was breathing.

He supposed it could be worst. At least he wasn't breaking into song and singing about his feelings like in the musicals. Jack doesn't sing, he's never needed to sing a single note in his life. He didn't even know if he sung well or not. Then again, there was a lot about himself he had yet to discover.

Sandy was the last to arrive. He walked in unnoticed since his friends were too busy talking to one another and Jack wasn't even paying attention. Mr. Ombric hadn't heard Sanderson walk in; therefore his eyes remained on his paperwork. Sandy looked at his friends and wondered what Mr. Ombric needed to talk to them about.

After filing another score in his grade book, Mr. Ombric looked up and was delighted to see that everyone he had called upon had come. He stood at the front of the room as if teaching a class and cleared his throat. At once the room became silent as everyone faced the elderly man. Everyone except Jack who just leaned back in his chair. He could really go for a miracle right now, but that wasn't happening any time soon.

"Good afternoon, I'm sure the four of you are curious why I called you here." He said with his statement directed to North and his friends. They all nodded unaware that Jack covered his face with his pale hands.

"We'll, as we all know, the annual Easter Egg Hunt is approaching and I'm sure you're all very busy."

"You got that right." Aster chimed in. Mr. Ombric ignored the statement and continued.

"And I have a favor to ask of you. Well, it is not much of a favor but rather a request. As the four of you know, you have all gained a large amount of hours for community service this year. Each if your functions that you organize provides an opportunity to gain hours. Furthermore, I'm sure you're all aware of Jack Frost seated behind you."

The group turned in their seats and saw Jack staring back at them with his bright blue eyes burning holes through them. He didn't say a word as he nodded to them with his heart racing. This was it, they were about to learn the truth.

"Jack had a uh, very low amount of hours for community service which will not be tolerated at the end of the year when your grade level graduates. To help him, I am putting him in your group to provide assistance with the egg hunt this year."

All four of the teens were caught off guard by the news and Aster was quick to protest.

"What? Why?"

"I am only doing what is suitable and I'm sure the four of you will adapt to him."

"But Jack Frost? Are you kidding?"

"No I am not. Now play nice and that is all I have to say to you right now. If you have any further discussions that need to be made feel free to take it into the hallway."

Jack immediately rose from his seat and was about to bolt but Sandy grabbed his sleeve instead. North, Tooth, and Aster all walked into the hallway outside the room while Sandy pulled Jack along with them. The group of five was now standing together in the hallway with an awkward silence shrouding over them. Jack blinked a few times before letting out a deep sigh. "So..." he said amongst the others. "I uh, guess I'll be with you guys for the next couple of days."

Aster rolled his eyes before turning to address North.

"C'mon North, you're seriously not going to let Frost join us right?"

"Why not? He deserves to have a chance. I'm fully aware that you and the boy don't have the best relationship, but Easter is only a few weeks away and we can use the extra help."

"Are you kidding? The only thing Frost will do is make a mess and waste time. He doesn't even care about children. He's just a selfish, irresponsible-"

That was when Jack cut in.

"Uh, hello? I'm standing right behind you. I can clearly hear everything you're saying."

Jack crossed his arms and took a step towards Aster.

"And who says I don't care about children? Who are you to sling these stupid accusations at me? You don't know me at all and you have no idea of who I am."

"Oh I know exactly what you are. You're just a troublemaker who has no respect for others."

Both teens were staring daggers at each other while Sandy puffed out his cheeks sighing. They had only been together for two minutes and tensions were already sky rocketing.

"You wouldn't even be in this situation if you had actually done what you were told."

"And what? Just live through the day being a goody two shoes?"

"At least we actually do things after school for other living beings with feelings. What do you do? Nothing. I haven't even seen you come to a holiday event."

"And here we go again. You're bringing the conversation back around to you, and why do I have to come to one of your dinky little events anyway?"

"Excuse me? Listen mate, you have no idea how much hard work and effort we do to make the children of the town happy. Our 'dinky little events' happen to be more complex than you could ever imagine."

"Really? How so?"

Tooth was the one to answer him this time.

"Jack, I don't think you realize what we actually do."

Unlike Aster, Tooth talked with a calm and caring tone. She wasn't practically yelling at Jack and she remained her composure. Jack looked at her for a few seconds and decided that he would rather lash out at Aster instead of her. "So according to you, Kangaroo, its rocket science to organize a day to occupy a bunch of kids and their friends?" he mocked while facing the Australian. Aster clenched his fists flared up that Jack had brought up the whole kangaroo fiasco again.

"What would you even know about having friends? Last time I checked, you don't have any and it's totally understandable why. Who would want to associate themselves with the likes of you anyway?"

"Aster I think that's enough!" Tooth said sternly. She sounded like a mother scolding their child.

Jack stared at Aster for a few seconds as those words seeped in. They stung like salt on an open cut but he quickly brushed it aside pretending it didn't hurt.

"You know what? I may not have a big family of friends to be surrounded by, but at least I can handle myself. I never wanted to be a part of this in the first place."

It was taking every ounce of strength in Jack's thin body to keep from shaking. This was the closest thing to a conversation about how he felt, and trying to keep his composure was like torture. After being alone for a majority of his life, this was the first time Jack had actually talked about with another living soul, even if it was just a topic brought up in an argument. He was startled when North suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, let me have a talk with you." he said softly. Jack followed North to an isolated section of the hallway under the stairs.

"Now, we get down to business." North said in a serious tone. He looked down at Jack while cracking his large knuckles. Jack slowly back up against the wall terrified. What did he mean by 'business'? Nicholas St. North had a large bone frame, was very tall, and he could easily snap Jack in half like a twig. Was that what he was going to do? Was he going to hurt Jack? The terrified albino didn't know what to do. His back was facing the wall and North was standing right in front of him taking a step closer. Jack was a fast runner, not as fast as Aster, but he was speedy enough to outrun North. Maybe he could slip under the Russian's legs and make a break for it?

"Before you get any ideas of getting out if this, you must learn a few things. Listen, I know that you've just been placed within our group seconds ago, and that must be a new experience for you. It's not everyday that your teacher drops you off with people like us, but that us not the point right now. What us the point is that you must learn to work with others."

Jack's ripped up converse shoes were glued to the floor as he just stood there. Was North lecturing him? The scrawny boy was too busy being lost in thought to even pay attention to North's words of wisdom. Everything he said went through one ear and passed out he other. His father had left when he was really young, so Jack didn't remember a lot about him. He never remembered being lectured by his father, only his mother when she was still around, and even then its was nothing to compare to how a father would do it.

"Jack, are you even listening?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah."

"Then tell me this, what was I just saying?"

"Uh, something about working with others?"

"My my, you were paying attention. Not many people do that whenever I talk like this."

"Yeah well, I'm not like most people. Anyway, how am I even supposed to 'fit in' with you guys if Kangaroo is always at my heels?"

"If you can prove to Aster that you're willing to try, then maybe the two of you can be friends as long as you two don't take it too far."

Jack scoffed.

"And what makes you think that I'd want to be friends with him? According to him, no one even wants to associate themselves with me."

"You'll never know unless you try. Besides, there is a lot that you don't know about him, or any of us for that matter. Take me for example. I can be angry or mysterious while still kind at heart. There is much you don't know yet, and I have a feeling we haven't even broken the ice with you. There's something inside each of us that sets us apart from the others."

"Where exactly is this feeling coming from?"

"It's coming from my belly."

"Excuse me?"

"My belly. you know, my gut feeling."

North laced his large hands where his stomach was while his bright blue eyes remained focused on Jack who made a weird face at North.

"So let me get this straight, an inner organ of yours, it telling you that there are things inside of my body that you and your friends should go exploring through?"

This time it was North's turn to scoff.

"Ha! I'm liking you already. And it's just not in your body, but your mind and heart as well."

One of North's fingers touched Jack's chest where his heart was beating under his chest. Jack shrugged off North quickly with his hands held up in defense.

"Whoa there North, lets not turn this conversation into a cheesy chick flick. We are not about to start talking about our feelings while slow dancing under a staircase or whatever."

North broke out into a laughing fit and patted Jack on the back. The albino let out a puff of air knowing that the bandages were still wrapped tightly around his chest.

"See Jack? I'm warming up to you already! It's only a matter if time before the others do as well."

"Yeah, well don't get too attached. I'm not one of you guys, and as soon as this is all over, I'll be on my merry way in the opposite direction."

Based off of all of the heartaches he had faced through life, Jack had learned to never get too attached to anyone, no matter who they are. He began to walk off unaware of North watching him from a distance. Everyone else may not be able to see it, but North could feel it. He could feel that under all of the barriers keeping the bad things in life out, Jack needed to let good things in. Buried deep down beneath shields of cheeriness, mischief, and loneliness, there was potential for the boy with the frozen heart.

North knew that with the help if Jack, their lives would about to become a lot more fun.

/

Pitch scanned the book shelf trying to locate a certain book on weaponry. He had his eyes set on a particular book and after reading a few detective stories which encoded quite a few enthralling murder cases. He had everything planned out for his plan to turn the tables on Sanderson and those other kids. Pitch clenched his fist as the buzzing of the two librarians gossiping behind him grew louder.

"You know that group of nice kids? With Sanderson and the others?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, word has it that Ombric stuck them with that white haired hellion of a boy."

"Who?"

"Oh, that's right Nancy, you're new here. I mean that Frost kid."

"You mean Jackson Frost?"

"Yes! He's the one who spilled white paint on the book shelves two weeks ago."

"Oh! Yes, him. He's a troublemaker."

"Indeed he is. I feel sorry for those nice kids who'll have to put up with him. I hope that hooligan doesn't give them too much trouble."

Pitch became interested in the conversation as he listened in closer. For once, these two chattering librarians were being useful.

"Do you know how long he'll be with them?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's only temporary. Bedsides, I don't think that boy wants to be with them anyway but he should be lucky to even be given a chance. If I were in charge, he would have been kicked out of the school years ago."

From what Pitch could tell, Frost was neutral. He knew that Jack was just a poor lost soul, which meant his new found clique would try to fix him. He also knew that he had a new target now, a lonely white haired target with a troubled past.

/

This day was going by so fast. It was like his first two classes and lunch went by like lightning. Jack only had two classes left; cooking and PE.

He quickened his pace while being careful no one saw him. There was no way he was about to get shoved in his locker again, and he didn't want to run into North in the hallways.

All he had to do was get his things for his electives and then leave. The paranoid teen entered the first number of his locker combination but nearly had a heart attack when someone tapped his shoulder. He spun around to see Sandy and Tooth staring right at him.

Great.

"Oh! Sorry Jack! Did I startle you?" asked Tooth. "Its just that you left so suddenly earlier and we could barely talk. Anyway, I know this all happened really fast, and that you're probably still trying to adjust, but can I ask you something?"

Jack paused so that he could think if something but his mouth answered for him.

"Ask away."

He mentally face palmed. What was that? Why did he just say that to Tooth? Maybe it was because he's never really talked to a female his age before. Ever. Even when he was in elementary school, he didn't talk to girls.

"Alright, so in sure you know about the Easter Egg Hunt we're doing this year,"

"Yeah I'm fully aware of that."

"Well, I talked to Mr. Ombric and he said that you need the community service hours since you have none. Now that you're with us, we need to go over the schedule about what we're doing for this weekend. Since today's Friday, we're meeting after school today an on the weekend."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Oh uh, I was wondering if you'd like to come over and help."

"Really? You want me to help?"

"Well, Aster isn't to bright on the idea but you're welcome to come and I'd love it if you showed up to help!"

Jack look at Sandy and the boy nodded. This is a new experience. Knowing that there were people actually wanting him around was completely alien to him.

Tooth sucked in a breathe hoping Jack didn't notice what she had said. She hadn't meant to say that she'd 'love' it if he would come. She meant to say that she would really appreciate it if he would show up to provide assistance.

"Isn't Easter in two weeks?" asked Jack. "And don't you guys paint like, a thousand eggs or something?"

"Actually it's two hundred to be exact, which is exactly why we need your help."

Jack sighed.

"Nah, you guys wouldn't want me. I'd just make a mess of things and-"

"North asked specifically for you and you're kinda stuck with us now since you're one of us ever since free period."

Sand agreed with Tooth while Jack just stood there. This really can't be happening, right? It's just like in his dreams. His dream self had been chosen to be a guardian by the other guardians but it was for an entirely different reason. Jacks mind suddenly flew astray as he recalled how different Toothiana was in his dreams. He dreamt that she was the tooth fairy, and that she was a mix between a hummingbird and a fairy woman. She had actually looked very stunning with her wings and brightly colored exotic feathers. Not that Tooth wasn't as equally beautiful in real life.

"Listen Jack, I know that you don't exactly fit in with us, but think about the kids at the elementary school-"

"Wait, the kids at the elementary school? As in, Burgess Elementary?"

"Yeah."

"Alright I'm in."

"You are?"

"Sure."

Jamie and Pippa went to Burgess Elementary, and Jack knew that they'd love the Easter Egg Hunt. He didn't want to let them down, and he'd live to make them happy. Both Tooth and Sandy grinned from ear to ear while Jack turned away and tugged on his locker door.

"Aw you're kidding me."

"What?"

"This stupid thing is jammed."

Frustrated, Jack kicked his locker door with his shoe.

"Oh let me try! Aster's locker jams all the time and I help him out sometimes."

Tooth walked over to Jack's locker and began to pull in it. Man, he wasn't kidding when he said this thing was jammed. What did he do to his locker to get it so stuck? Sandy and Jack stood behind her as she attempted to pry it open. Tooth abruptly swung the door open but didn't expect it to and her hand was flung back. The back of her hand soared over Sandy's head and hit Jack straight in the mouth hard. The albino placed a hand over his mouth as the metallic taste of blood brushed against his tongue. He could feel his lip bleed as Tooth turned around to him.

"Oh my gosh Jack I'm so sorry!"

She rushed over to Jack and brushed his hand away and Sandy watched as Tooth expected Jack's bleeding lower lip. He knew that Tooth had been dying to see what Jack's teeth looked like, and it seems that she was about to have her wish granted.

"Well, I don't think I did anything bad- woah Jack! The rumors or true!"

"Wot?"

Tooth peered inside Jack's open mouth excited. This was the first time she's seen his teeth this close before and she was but about to waste it.

"Your teeth! They're whiter than the snow! I've never seen teeth this white it's like they're photoshopped!"

Jack had never felt so awkward in his life. Here he was, standing in the hallway at his open locker with Toothiana Fairie fumbling her small fingers in his mouth and what did she mean by rumors? Where there rumors going around school about the insides of his mouth? People walking past them stared and gave them weird looks but the two teens didn't notice. Meanwhile, Sandy stood besides them watching his friend have the time of her life at seeing Jack's pearly whites. The spiky golden haired boy tugged on Tooth's blouse and she became snapped back to reality.

"Oh! I forgot we had cooking!"

Tooth pulled her hands out of Jacks mouth and picked up her things. She was about to run off when Jack grabbed her hand.

"Wait, you have cooking? Since when?"

"I was switched to cooking yesterday."

"Oh. I'm going down to cooking too."

"Really? Cool! We can go together, right Sandy?"

Sandy nodded with a smile since he had always been in Jack's cooking class from the start of the semester.. Jack blushed when he realized he was still holding Tooth's hand. How long had he been doing that? He didn't seem to notice that Tooth was blushing as well as they walked down to class with Sandy close behind.

* * *

**A/N: aaah there was a storm outside and it ended up messing with my power and i lost half of the stuff i had written D:**

**this had never happened before and i had to re type it **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: do you people even read my authors notes but thats fine if you just ignore them because i would do that to me too**

Chapter Six

"Hold the stool still Jack,"

"Yes, I know."

"I think I can just reach the flour if I reached a little further."

Tooth stretched her body up higher. Her fingers brushed against the bag of flour on the top shelf as Jack held the stool steady. Ms. Crocker had told Tooth to get the flour from the supply closet for the cookies they were baking, but Tooth was too short to reach it on the top shelf by herself. She had asked Jack to hold the stool for her, one of the legs was half a centimeter short meaning that it was too wobbly for someone not to hold. Ms. Crocker didn't know that Jack was helping Tooth. The teacher hated Jack, ever since he gave food freezer burn to all of the food in the past. She also hated him because she knew that he was the one who shoved ice down people's shirts when their backs were turned.

Tooth's back was facing Jack, and with her body in the stool, her posterior was in front of Jack's eyesight. He had never been in a situation like this before, but he couldn't leave because he was making sure the stool was steady for Tooth. Jack just looked away trying not to turn back to Tooth's anus in front of him.

"Did you get it yet?"

"Wait, I think I need an extra boost. I'm gonna try to jump so make sure you don't loose your grip."

"Uh, are you sure that's a good idea Tooth?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You wouldn't let me fall would you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Tooth jumped up and her hand finally grasped the sack of flour. Her victory was short lived when she came back down and her footing missed the edge of the stool's surface. She yelped as she fell back but Jack was quick on his feet as he stepped back to catch her. Holding out his arms, Jack swiftly caught the girl before she could reach the ground. With Tooth in his clutches, Jack looked down at her. Did her eyes always sparkle under the light? It was as if she was a fairy, like in his dreams.

"See Tooth? I told you I wouldn't dream of letting you fall."

He smiled down at her revealing his pearly white teeth.

"Oh, thanks Jack. I know I could count on you."

A second passed before Jack let Tooth down. She had the sack of flour, which is what they came for. "Well Jack, I guess we should get back now." she quoted as she tucked a lock of her light brown hair behind her ear. What had happened just moments ago was like in the movies. The heroine falls and the hero is there to catch her in his arms.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Jack responded. He hadn't expected Tooth to be so light, as if she weighed as much as he did. Jack was skinnier than her and an inch taller but when he held Tooth, it was as if her bones were hollow. Like a bird, a hummingbird. How bizarre could his dreams get?

Jack was too busy concentrating on what had just happen and didn't watch where he was stepping. He took a step after Tooth but instead of walking after her, Jack tripped over his untied shoes and fell forward.

"Oh and Jack, I-" Tooth was cut off when Jack fell forward on top of her. Her eyes widened as she fell back and Jack's cold, icy, lips were smashed against hers. Falling to the floor, The sack of flour burst between them and the white powder flew onto their clothes.

/

Sandy was wondering what was taking Tooth so long, and where Jack was. Maybe he was with Tooth? Ms. Crocker had told Tooth to retrieve the flour from the supply's closet, so that's where the golden haired boy headed. He heard a high pitched yelp and a thump as he drew closer to the closet and Sandy placed his hand on the door handle. Flinging it open, Sandy's eyebrows were raised up to the aviation goggles around his head. Lying on the floor, was Jack on top of Tooth with their lips pressed together and white powder was everywhere.

The two teens coated in flour were just as surprised as Sandy was. They quickly broke apart and separated from the accidental kiss.

"Sandy! Uh, okay, this is not what you think it is. Tooth got the flour and I tripped over my shoelaces and uh,"

"He's telling the truth Sandy! I turned around and he just, uh, fell forward and then the flour sack broke."

"And us kissing was a total accident!"

"Yeah! We didn't mean for it to happen I wasn't even expecting it."

Sandy just started to laugh at how ridiculous Tooth and Jack looked. The flour had stuck to their clothes, skin, and hair. Under the flour sticking to their skin, both Tooth and Jack were blushing. If they weren't covered in white dust, they'd be as red as tomatoes. On one side, Tooth felt uplifted when Jack had fallen on her. Of all things to expect, she did not think that she would accidentally smooch the high school's loner with perfect teeth. She didn't know if she should be in shock or feel lucky.

Their contact had only lasted seconds, and it was so sudden. Tooth didn't have time to react or to enjoy it. Sandy had opened the door mere seconds after they had landed on the ground together.

Jack felt like an idiot. A stupid, unbalanced, uncoordinated idiot. How could he trip over his shoe laces like that? He usually never trips! He was Jackson Frost, he was supposed to be nimble and graceful like in his dreams.

Well, what he did was very graceful.

He couldn't even stop himself from landing on Tooth like that. She was just in front of him and she just happened to turn around when he had fallen. Jack had a devious mind. He pulled pranks, made mischief, and usually never thought about how his actions might affect how other people may feel.

What if that was Tooth's first kiss? It certainly was his first kiss.

How could he do that to her?

She probably doesn't even like Jack like that!

Jack was just a flustered moron. That was the closest he's ever been to anyone, and it was all because of his stupid shoelaces. Why couldn't he just have strips of velcro instead of laces? That would have saved him a lot of trouble.

Sandy was still piecing together the evidence. He had seen Jack blush when his hand was conjoined with Tooth's earlier, and he had seen how Tooth would look at Jack. The golden haired teen was fully aware that today may have been the best Friday of Tooth's life. Just in one school day, she had peered inside Jack's mouth only to have him grab her hand seconds after. To top it all off, she had just shared a tender moment with the albino whether it was an accident or not. Part of Sandy was wondering if Jack had stumbled on purpose. Maybe he liked Tooth back, and wanted to make a move on her.

He quickly tossed that idea aside. There was no way Jack would do that. He's still clueless that Tooth has a major crush on him. Being mute, Sandy could easily read body language and how people communicate through it. In particular, Jack would pull his hood up when he was sad or feeling down and blink more than usual when he would lie about it. When Tooth would mindlessly babble on about something, that meant she was excited about it. Her eyes would glisten when she was flustered and she would smile a lot when nervous.

"I think we should go clean ourselves up." Tooth said. She was still fazed, but at least Sandy had stopped silently snickering at them. Then a thought popped into her head. If she and Jack left the closet to get the flour off of their clothes and out of their hair, then everyone in class would see them! She didn't want the entire class to be laughing at her and Jack, so what was she supposed to do?

"Yeah you're right Tooth, we should get this flour off." spoke Jack. His hair was white enough naturally, he didn't need it too look like he had dandruff or anything. Getting up from the floor and dusting himself off, Jack walked right out of the closet before Tooth could object.

As so as he took one step into the kitchen where everyone was cooking, silence loomed over the entire class like storm clouds. Tooth had no choice but to follow Jack out as well and soon she joined his side not wanting everyone to laugh at him alone. By the time Sandy had arrived, the class was in hysterics at seeing Tooth and Jack. He could tell that Tooth was embarrassed again. Her head was hung low and she stared at the ground but she suddenly looked up when she heard Jack laughing besides her.

He had seen their reflection in the mirror above the sink besides them, and he was laughing just as hard as his classmates.

"Wow I knew we looked stupid with this flour on, but I never thought we'd look this ridiculous!" he said between laughing fits. His glee soon spread to Tooth when she saw her own reflection. The flour had made her as white as a ghost! Jack was right, they did look ridiculous! Here she was, covered in flour, with the boy who she accidentally shared a kiss with. How could she be embarrassed? She was too busy giggling at her appearance. She had no idea what had become of her. Maybe she was laughing to relieve herself, or maybe it was because of what had just happened. Either way, she was grinning with Jack at her side.

Across the kitchen, a stout woman on the short side with red oval glasses and short black hair looked over to see what was causing her class to make so much noise. Ms. Crocker noticed that Tooth had come back but placed a hand over her mouth at seeing them. She busted out laughing like her class at seeing the two.

"Oh my, what have we here?"she asked directing her question to Tooth. Ms. Crocker would appreciate an explanation from an honor student more than an explanation from a trickster such as Jack. Tooth calmed herself to answer her teacher.

"Oh, well uh, the flour you asked me to get was on the top shelf. The only stool available had uneven legs so Jack was here to hold it for me. While I was reaching for the flour, I uh, didn't notice that there was a tear in the sack... and it spilled out covering us."

Tooth hoped that Ms. Crocker would buy her fib. It wasn't completely a lie but she wasn't telling the entire truth either. The whole class had their attention focused on them, if she said that the sack of flour had burst when Jack fell forward, who knows what they might depict that as. They might think that she and Jack were doing naughty things in that closet or something worse.

Ms. Crocker paused before sighing.

"Well, we can't have the two of you going through the rest of your day looking like ghosts with dandruff. I suggest you both go down to the nurse's office to get yourselves a new change if clothes and to get all of that flour off."

"Alright thank you Ms. Crocker. You ready to go Jack?"

"As I'll ever be."

The two teens walked out the door and headed to the nurse's office together. Tooth was still a bit flustered of what had happened in that closet, but a warm sensation shot through her body whenever she thought about it.

/

After wiping themselves clean, Jack and Tooth were handed a change of clothes by Ms. Questant who smiled at them when they came in. Jack saw that there was a tarp taped over the window he had thrown a rock through, hopefully he wouldn't be caught as the culprit who did it.

Jack waited outside the bathroom in the nurse's office waiting for Tooth to finish changing. He still had to change his clothes, and he was not about to do it in the boys' restroom. That place had stalls as clean as the sewage system underground. He had already been there once today to wrap his chest, he wasn't going back in there again to change his wardobe. Jack hated the bathrooms at this school. The only clean bathrooms in the whole facility with a sanitary toilet and a sink with hot _and_ cold water were the bathrooms in Ms. Questant's office and the teacher's lounge. The door handle clicked and out stepped Tooth dressed in her new attire.

It was nothing compared to her original outfit that had gotten coated in flour, but it was simple enough to look good on her form. Tooth still had in her golden bangles and earrings but she now wore a turquoise shirt with sleeves that reached halfway down her arms. Dark skinny jeans hugged her legs while her makeup was redone like her hair. It didn't even look like a sack of flour had exploded all over her. She actually looked really cute.

"Something wrong Jack?"

"Hm? No, no nothing's wrong at all."

He hadn't even noticed that he had been staring for long. What was wrong with him today?

Jack shook his head as he switched places with Tooth. He stepped inside the bathroom and locked the door before taking off his blue hoodie. The bandages from before were loose around his upper torso, and Jack didn't even bother to rewrap them. His chest wasn't hurting right now, and that was good enough for him.

Taking off the bandages, Jack rolled them up and stuffed them inside the front pocket of his flour covered hoodie. He took off his shoes and then his pants before staring down at the wardrobe Ms. Questant had given him. It was long sleeved tan shirt and light skinny jeans torn at the bottom cuff. Jack took two seconds to slip into the skinny jeans. They were slightly baggy on him but at least they fit. After putting on the tan shirt, Jack looked in the mirror to see that it was two sizes too big. You could clearly see Jack's collar bones and the sleeves were hanging down past his hands. The albino just ignored it and rolled his sleeves up not caring that the shirt collar was lower than he desired it to be.

Once he was done changing, Jack picked up his original clothes and headed out the door. He saw Tooth there waiting for him outside the door.

"Ready to go Jack?"

"Yeah. You know, you didn't have to wait for me. You could have just gone back to class without me while I was changing."

"I know but, I didn't want you to walk back alone and by the time you'd get back class may be over."

He wasn't accustomed to this. Jack had never had someone wait for him because they didn't want him to be alone before. Usually the only reason they would wait for him was because they had to or were forced to.

Tooth thanked Ms. Questant who responded with a nod off her head. The two teens were off again traveling together through the hallways for a third time today. The first time Sandy was with them, the second was when they were covered in flour, and now they were decent looking as they walked together.

"So uh, Jack,"

"Yes?"

"About what happened earlier, in the closet."

"Oh uh, yeah."

"You know, you should really tie your shoes."

"Yeah I know, but-"

"But nothing Jack. We can't have you walking around tripping everywhere. Here, I'll tie them."

Jack stopped in his tracks as Tooth bent down to tie his tangled laces. He felt like a kid just standing there and watching her untangle his laces. People walking past them didn't seen to notice them as they but they didn't care enough to pay attention anyway. After three minutes, Jack's shoe laces were untangled and tied in neat, triple knotted bows in top of his converse shoes.

"That should do it."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem."

There was another moment if silence between them as they walked through the building.

"Hey Tooth?"

"Yeah?"

"I, I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For what happened back there."

"You mean in the closet?"

"Yeah. Obviously I'm not sorry for catching you back there, but about falling and uh, landing on you. Listen, whatever you might think, that was an accident. I never meant to, you know, kiss you."

Jack bit back on his lip. He wasn't good with apologizing, especially if it was for accidentally falling on top of a very beautiful girl and pecking her on the lips while getting flour everywhere in the process.

"Oh, don't worry about it Jack. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Tooth was keeping her answers about the whole 'accident' short. She didn't want to slip up and blurt out that she had actually liked it and wanted to do it again but longer this time. The two of them had just became friends today, she didn't want to come on too strong and rush into things.

Jack was not a fan of awkward silences, he had to think of something to say.

"So uh, what do you guys do at those holiday events anyway?"

"Well, we do much more than just planning it. Each function that we do is special for each child in its own individual way. They wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves if what we did was like everything else. The four if us try our hardest to give everyone as much joy and hope to the kids while they can still have it. When they grow up, they may not remember what their childhood was like, so we give them something that they'll never forget. We want the kids to be able to dream about their past experiences with what we do. Before we started doing these things, the schools were so depressing and none of us liked seeing it. A lot of people had very uneventful childhoods and we want to change that for the new generation."

Jack was suddenly enthralled by what she had to say. This went much deeper than he thought. Maybe working with them won't be as bad as he thought. Who knows,maybe he could change Jamie or Pippa's lives by part taking in the Easter Egg Hunt.

"But most of all, we don't just do it as friends, but we do it like a family too."

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. Not once has he ever thought of it like that. As a family? He knew that North, Aster, Sandy, and Tooth were close friends, but he never knew they could be that close.

"Something the matter?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, you kind just stopped walking right there for some reason."

"Oh, its nothing."

Jack continued to walk down with Tooth with all sorts of questions swarming around in his head. Could their be a chance that they have room for one more? Would Jack finally be pulled out of the loneliness wrapped around him and into something better? Was joining their little 'family' be the key to finding out his purpose?

All of this sounded very similar to his dreams. Too similar to be exact.

/

When Tooth and Jack had made it back to their cooking class, it had ended and Sandy was there waiting for them at the door with their things. "Thanks Sandy," Tooth said. "I guess cleaning ourselves up really did take the rest of the period."

Tooth felt bad about leaving Sandy alone in cooking, but Ms. Crocker was right. There was no way that she and Jack could carry on their day coated in white powder.

Jack had gym class after cooking, and usually he didn't mind that much. He could be as foot loose and as active as he wanted to in gym, except that he fell off of a bus this morning. He hoped that his aches and pains wouldn't come back during class, they were supposed to play lacrosse today. Jack sighed hoping that gym class won't be too hard on him.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: aaaah i dont know what to put here**

Chapter Seven

Snow was on the ground as Jack was passed the ball. Gym wasn't brutal, but it was lame and dull. Instead of actually playing lacrosse, they were just passing a cracked, plastic, hollow ball to each other with the lacrosse sticks. His partner wasn't even that good, but what could he expect from having the teacher choose his partner? Jack was paired up with Ryan Mason, who was short and lanky but he was actually kinda nice. He was nice, but the most annoying person on the planet. Jack was glad that Ryan was ten feet away so that he wouldn't have to hear him babble on.

It was cold outside, and their gym uniform consisted of a light grey short sleeves shirt and navy blue shorts. Jack was wearing his blue pullover since the flour still on it blended in with the snow. Even from a distance Jack could see his partner shiver. At least Ryan wasn't talking.

"Hey heads up." Jack called over as he flung the ball over to Ryan. The albino lunged his stick forward and the small plastic ball flew threw the air. He watched as Ryan scattered about just trying to pick it up.

A brisk wind blew in Jack's face and nipped his nose. He didn't mind the cold air blowing on him, it didn't bother him one bit. It wasn't like the wind was messing up his hair or anything. The white fibers protruding from his head were all too short to be rattled by something like the wind.

Jack didn't even hear Ryan grunt when he threw the ball back. It was a good throw too. Strong and fast, and it was picked up by the wind. The plastic ball soon zipped over to Jack who wasn't paying attention (again) and he didn't have time to react as the projectile slammed into his forehead and knocked him off balance. He staggered backwards but other than that he was fine. It was just a plastic ball, it couldn't do much harm.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" hollered Ryan from a distance. "I didn't mean to throw it that hard."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Okay."

Jack walked over to where the ball had landed and sighed. He had really been looking forward to actually playing a game if lacrosse but nope, he was just getting hit in the face with dinky plastic balls. At least he had the lacrosse stick. It was fun waving it around like a staff and tapping things with it. If only it was a shepard's crook like what his dream self had.

"That guy sure can take balls to the face."

Jack looked over his shoulder to see a group of boys snickering at him. He didn't know them, but he noticed the one who had talked was wearing a pair of gym shorts two sizes too small. They weren't that long, so it was the perfect excuse Jack could use to snap a witty response at them.

"Well wouldn't you know, Mr. Short Shorts." he spat as he walked past them with his head held high. The group if boys became silent as Jack walked back to where he was standing before.

There was still snow on the ground, and a snow ball fight seemed a lot now fun than passing a plastic ball back and forth.

"Hey Ryan, think fast!" Jack yelled out as he threw a snowball at his partner. The clump if snow made impact with its target and splattered along Ryan's glasses.

"Hey! I said I was sorry!" he proclaimed as he made a snowball himself. Ryan chucked the snowball at Jack but having the worse aim in the school, Ryan's snowball flew three feet to the left of Jack and hit Ethan Welks.

"Hey! He threw that?" Ethan blurted out loud. Jack pointed over to Ryan and soon Ethan was making a snowball as well. Jack watched as Ethan threw the snowball in Ryan's direction but it soared over his head and hit Bridget Cecil on the side of the field where the girls were.

Within seconds, both the boys and he girls were having an all out free for all. Jack was in the center of it, laughing along in the battle. This was way more fun than what they were doing earlier, and everyone else thought it was too. There was a banter of laughter coming from the crowd rather than screams of vengeance. Everyone was just throwing snow mindlessly at each other and not even aiming for a target in particular.

However, the gym teacher, Mr. Bernard, wasn't amused one bit. He blew into the whistle which shrieked over his class's chatter and snowballs. "You see? This is why we never go outside when there's snow. There's no focus!" he barked. "Now, I want everyone to pick up the equipment and-"

Mr. Bernard was cut off when a snowball exploded on his face. There were hushed whispers and murmurs asking who threw it and Jack just leaned on his lacrosse stick smugly. He _knew_ that his aim was perfect. Jack watched as his angry gym teacher turned red with annoyance as he wiped off the snow from his face. "Alright, whoever had the nerves to throw that step forward." he commanded. Everyone stayed still not wanting to be accused of the person who threw the snowball.

Meanwhile, Jack was in the back of the crowd hidden among the students. He peaked his head out and saw Mr. Bernard crane his neck as he studied his class looking for the culprit. One more snowball never hurt anyone, right? Jack leaned down behind a group of girls and made a perfectly round snowball in his hands. It didn't even bother him that the snow was ice cold, he was just glad it was sticking together. Looking over again, his icy blue eyes saw that his gym teacher had turned his back. Perfect.

Jack loaded the snowball into the basket of his lacrosse stick. He flung the stick forward and watched as the snowball was catapulted through the air. This time, it crashed down on top of Mr. Bernard's head. If he wasn't aggravated enough, he certainly was now. He was about to yell out at his class when the sound of a bell ringing erupted from the school.

Everyone immediately raced inside the building not wanting to be the last person outside with their furious gym teacher. Jack just moved with the crowd like he always does as he walked inside still holding the lacrosse stick as it rested on his shoulder. Gym class wasn't that bad, but he had been through enough today. All of the events of today tired Jack out, and he was glad that he could leave school soon. He just had to do one more thing and then he was free for the rest of the day.

/

Jack's locker clicked open and he was glad that it didn't jam again. He grabbed his schoolbag and began to cram everything he'd need when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him.

"Hi Jack!"

Jack turned around to see Tooth and Sandy. Tooth was smiling at him while Sandy shot a friendly wave. "So Jack, how are you right now?" she asked.

"I'm doing fine."

"Oh great! We're all meeting at my house today after school to finish planning for Easter and then we're going to Aster's house to work on eggs. Do you think you can come?"

"Uh, I already have other plans made for today."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Can I ask what they are? Not that I'm trying to be nosy or anything, I'm just curious."

"Well..."

"That's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Sandy pursed his lips. It sounded as if Jack was lying to get out if working with them today. However, if Jack was lying then it was a really low quality fib. Sandy had seen Jack lie to teachers and authority figures all the time. Based off of what he's observed, Jack is darn good at lying. He could make up a believable excuse on the spot so if he was lying, then why was he having trouble now? Perhaps he was having trouble lying towards Tooth? Or maybe he actually did have other plans?

"Can I have your phone number then? If we're going to work together, then we need to stay in touch."

"Actually, I don't have a cell phone."

"Really? But Jack, you're a senior in high school! How can you not have a phone? Aren't you seventeen or something? Is it because of your parents?"

"Uh, yeah. Something like that..."

Jack shrugged as he closed his locker and slung his bag over his shoulder. Was it really that abnormal for him to not own a phone? Jack has never needed a cell phone before, he's never had anyone to call. Even if he wanted a mobile phone of his own there was no way he could afford one. Jack had no job, which meant he had couldn't raise any kind of money to legally buy one. There was no way that anyone at the orphanage would provide him with a phone, and there wasn't anyone to donate one to him either.

After quickly saying his goodbyes, Jack turned on his heels before practically sprinting through the halls. He had a schedule to keep to, and he didn't have that much time.

Tooth and Sandy were bewildered as they watched Jack abscond from them. They've never seen him run off like that unless he was in trouble. However, there was a lot they didn't know about Jack. Ever since freshman year they've been ignoring him, which turned out to be a mistake that they'll never make again. "I, I guess we'll just meet without him..." Tooth said trailing off.

Darn.

She was really hoping that Jack could work with them today. He had letf so quickly that Tooth didn't even get a chance to ask his address. If they were going to be a team, they all needed ways to communicate to each other. The only thing Tooth knew about where Jack lived is that he comes from the neighborhood close to the town's orphanage. Tooth looked down to Sandy who just shrugged.

"Hey Sandy, I guess you should text North and Aster that Jack won't make it today." she told the shorter teen. Sandy nodded as he obliged. Pulling out his cell phone, he flipped it opened and sent the message to his other two friends. He was disappointed as well knowing that Jack wouldn't be with them after school today. Jack needs to spend time with friends, and to do that, he has to actually befriend people. They were just the people that he could befriend, and it looks like he just dodged it all together.

The pair walked outside the building and made their way to the parking lot. After five minutes, they spotted North leaning on his car. He drove a shiny red van, the type that a soccer mom would drive, but the way he decorated it made it look desirable to anyone. It was tricked out with copious amounts of Christmas themed designs all year round even if it was the middle of summer. The rear bumper of the vehicle was garnished with jolly stickers while the inside was just as extraordinary. Two air fresheners were hanging from the rear view mirror made the entire van smell like pepper mint candy canes and forest pine. A bobble head of an elf rested on the dashboard wearing a red outfit with a bell at the tip if its pointy hat. Each seat was fabricated and there was enough room for eight people to ride in all together.

"Where's Aster? I thought he was supposed to be here already." Tooth said. "Is he late or something?"

"Well, he said that he had to go pick up his sister from school today." North responded. "He already left to go get her."

"You mean Sophie?"

"Yes, her."

"Alright, but make sure that he comes to my house afterwards. We still have a lot of planning to do but if he misses the meeting at my place then he should just meet us at his house."

"So is Jack not coming?"

"He already has other plans for today."

"Ah, I see."

The three teens all packed into North's car and they left the school. Tooth sat in the front seat besides North who was driving and Sandy sat in the back. North wasn't the most graceful driver, but he's never been in an accident nor received any kind of tickets. Despite the fact that they were wearing their seat belts, Tooth and Sandy were still jostled about while North recklessly shot down the road. They had known North and his driving skills for years, meaning that they were accustomed to riding in his car.

/

Jack had his hood pulled over his head as the snow crunched under his shoes. He had ditched the shirt that he received in the nurse 's office and slipped back into his blue pullover for the remainder of the day.

He glanced around to make sure that he wasn't followed as he stealthily made his way to Burgess Elementary. This was a normal routine that Jack had been doing five days a week for years but he still had to be careful. The school days for high school students would always end hours before it did for kids in elementary school. That gave Jack just enough time to sneak down and meet the younger kids while they were at recess.

Jack was unseen as he drew closer to the fence surrounding the back of the school. He didn't want any teachers to see him, he looked pretty shady with his hood always up as he stalked around the fence. Jack had no attentions to harm any of the kids, but he also didn't want any of the teachers thinking he was some pedophile.

He was not a pedophile.

As he trailed along the fence, Jack came across an area lush in snow covered trees and bushes. He pushed aside the branches to reveal a hole in the fence large enough for a person to crawl through. This is how the albino would get into the school undetected. Jack got on his hands and knees as he crept along the ground and through the hole. He stood up on the other side on school grounds. After taking in a deep breathe, Jack cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a high pitched whistle.

"Jack!"

"Jack you're here!"

"You're late."

A group of young adolescences bundled up in winter clothes ran towards Jack grinning ear to ear. "Hey guys. Sorry about being late. Some stuff happened." Jack told them as he ruffled the tips of their heads.

"That's okay!"

"Yeah!"

"Anything is fine as long as you come!"

Jack knew each if them by name. There was Monty, Claude, Cupcake, Caleb, Sascha, William, Peter, and two the Jack could never forget, Jamie Bennett and Pippa Overland.

It didn't bother Jack _that_ much about seeing the offspring of his original parents, but he wasn't going to tell them his relationship with them. There was no way they'd let the son they had together play with the children they had after their divorce. Jack was just bad memories to them, and they were just a reminder to him that he was just a mistake that ruins everything. As far as Jamie and Pippa knew, Jack was just the white haired kid who came from the high school to play with them during recess. The group of kids had kept Jack's presence a secret knowing that he would get in trouble for trespassing on school property to play with them. They had all known Jack for years and the albino would watch them grow up.

Jamie tugged on Jack's sleeve and peered up at him through his coffee brown eyes.

"What are we going to do today Jack?"

"We're gonna have some fun."

Before Jamie could respond, Jack threw down a clump if snow on Jamie's head before running off laughing. "No fair! You got a heads start!" Jamie said smiling. Balling up a snowball of his own, Jamie threw the projectile at Jack but his target moved making the snowball hit Pippa in the face.

"Jamie Bennett I'm coming for you!" she shouted before giggling. Soon enough, the other kids joined in on the fun with Jack. They made their way over to the unfrozen playground as the snowball fight took place. Jack didn't even care that he was having another snowball fight today, he was just glad to see Jamie and Pippa happy. As long as he was around, Jack would make sure that they would never experience what he had to go through. He wasn't going to let them be disappointed or sad and he certainly wasn't going to allow them to feel like mistakes that should never have been born. He was their little guardian.

Claude and Caleb were hiding behind the slide while Sascha and Peter pelted them. "Hey guys, lets get Jack!" William playfully yelled to everyone. They all seemed to agree and Jack had to dodge a bombardment of snowballs coming from the children. He was unaware that Cupcake was creeping up behind him with a rather large ball of snow and he didn't have time to react before it broke upon him. Jack fell forward and the children took this time to strike and they all laughed as he tried to escape them. Jack couldn't help but laugh too in their fun and he wasn't even discouraged. Instead, he ran behind the twisty tube slide to take shelter. He peaked his head out to see a snowball whiz two feet past him.

"Darn it! I have the worst aim!" pouted Pippa in frustration. Jack made his way over to her with a perfect snowball in his hand.

"Aw come on little lady, don't feel bad."

"But I always miss! I'm terrible at throwing."

Jack didn't like seeing Pippa kick at the ground is frustration. He plopped the ball of snow into her gloved hands and stood behind her. Pippa allowed Jack to guide her wrist to teach her how to throw.

"It's all in the wrist Pippa. Keep your eyes on the target, and let your hand do the aiming. Just flick your wrist forward when you're ready to throw."

Pippa obeyed the teen and set her eyes on Monty's wool hat. She squinted her eyes and her tongue stuck out as she aimed. If her mother were here, she'd scold Pippa for looking so unladylike but Jack thought she looked adorable in this pose. He wasn't being creepy, but he was thinking like an older brother towards her. Following Jack's orders, Pippa flicked her wrist and the snowball flew from her hand. The ball of snow flew through the air and she cheered when it knocked off Monty's hat.

"I did it! I did it!"

"See? I told you that you could do it."

"Thanks Jack! You're the best!"

Pippa wrapped her arms around Jack who paused before hugging her back. Their moment was short lived when Jamie threw a snowball into Pippa's hair. Wanting to have more practice throwing, Pippa giggled before going after Jamie with a clump of the sticky snow in her hand.

"Hey Jack come join us!" Sascha yelled over from across the playground. Jack looked over to see that some of the other kids were now making snow angels in the ground. He smiled at them before walking over and laying down in the snow with them. He moved his arms and legs up and down in the snow while the children mimicked his motions. They were all laughing and having a good time when Claude sprang up. "Jack I think someone's coming!" he warned. "You have to hide or they'll see you!"

All of the kids froze while Jack shot up from the ground with his blue hoodie covered in snow. he needed to hide fast, but where? His question was soon answered when he saw the tube slide. Jack crawled inside while the other kids acted like there wasn't a seventeen year old albino high schooler hiding in the slide. They all love it when Jack comes to visit, and they don't want him to get into any trouble that would prevent him from coming back.

/

Aster walked into the elementary school. He came to pick up Sophie, his little sister, and take her home for the day. The Australian walked up to the front desk and signed in saying that he was only a visitor. If someone entered the school and they weren't a staff worker or a student, then they had to sign in as a visitor to show that they meant no harm. The receptionist at the desk gave Aster a neon yellow sticker saying "Visitor" and nodded to him as he walked off. Aster walked down the hallways and after taking various lefts and rights, he came across the classroom which held his four year old little sister as well as the other preschool children.

E. Aster Bunnymund was tall, very tall, so he looked like a giant compared to the preschoolers who were three feet tall at best. As Aster walked in there were dozens of small children crowding around him screaming things about if he had a goose that layed golden eggs or if he lived up in the clouds. They were just ignored by Aster as he walked over to the teacher, Ms. Kailash.

"Oh hello Mr. Bunnymund. Have you come to pick up Sophie today?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright. She's over there in the corner. We made kites today in art so be sure to take hers too."

"Thanks Ms. Kailash."

"Any time dear."

Aster strolled across the classroom doing his best not to trip over any of the little ankle biters surrounding him. Ms. Kailash was keeping a group of them entertained by reading out nursery rhymes but Sophie was off on her own. She held a stuffed bunny in her arms and played with it by herself. Sophie Bunnymund was adorable and the most innocent thing in the world to Aster. His little sister is what brings out the best of him. Being her only sibling, Aster wanted to be the best big brother to her ever.

"G'day ya little ankle biter." he said softly while leaning down. He ruffled Sophie's hair and her giggle made him smile.

"Have a good day today?"

"Yeah!"

"Watcha learn?"

"Bunny! Hop hop!"

Sophie jumped up and down in place with the stuffed bunny toy in her arms. Then she held up a kite that was made up of two sticks tied together with colorful yarn. The sticks were glued to a piece of bright pink paper with a blue ribbon as the tail. Aster stared down at Sophie's creation and made a note that it looked as if someone spilled a gallon of school glue on it and then dumped a bucket containing every glitter known to man onto the glue.

"Kite!" Sophie explained to her brother. She was obviously proud of what she had made and held it high above her head.

"Aster see kite?"

"Yes Sophie, Aster sees kite."

"Kite pretty?"

"It's a beauty ya little ankle biter!"

There was no way that Aster was about to tell his younger sister that the kite she had made looked like a pile of sparkling dust. Taking hold of Sophie's hand, Aster lead her out the door.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yeah!"

"Well when we go outside, you can play with your new kite."

"Yay kite! Fly! Fly!"

Aster picked up Sophie's kite as well and together they walked out the door.

Sophie was too excited to go outside and she slipped from her brothers grip. "Sophie wait!" Aster called out to her but she had already begun to run off. Her brother sighed to himself mumbling something about having to keep her on a leash and began to chase after her.

/

"Never mind Jack! It was just a rabbit so the coast is clear."

Jack popped his head out of the tube slide and breathed a sigh of relief. Sliding out, he noticed that recess time was almost over for his group of playmates. "Okay everyone, recess is just about over. It's time for me to head back." he said. There was a string of moans and complaints coming from the children at hearing this since today was Friday, which meant they wouldn't see Jack again until Monday afternoon.

"Are you coming back on Monday?" Jamie asked Jack. The younger child was clearly disappointed that the time for Jack to leave had come so soon but he brightened up when Jack said he'll never miss out on them. Jack even crossed his heart to indicate that he would never skip them unless he was dead and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

The sound of a whistle blowing filled their ears signaling that recess was over and it was time for everyone outside to retreat back into the school. Each child stayed a little longer with Jack to hug him and say their goodbyes. Pippa and Jamie stayed with him the most before they left as well.

"Bye Jack!"

"See you Monday!"

"Bye!"

"Take care!"

"Don't get into too much trouble without us!"

"See ya later!"

Jack waved goodbye to them while smiling. Even though he could only see Jamie, Pippa, and their friends for half an hour on weekdays, Jack had still created a strong bond with all of them.

"Jack! Jack!"

The albino turned around when he heard someone call his name to see Sophie. He didn't know what her last name was, but she was one of the few preschoolers who would sneak outside from time to time to play with the big kids. "Hey Sophie. What are you doing out here?" questioned Jack as he lifted up the toddler. She hugged his neck and Jack smiled to her as well.

"Frost? Is that you?"

Jack looked up to see Aster standing in front of him and both of them were in shock.

"Aster? What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"Oh, uh..."

"And what're ya doin with Sophie?"

"Wait, are you her brother?"

"No, I'm the Easter Bunny. What do you think?"

"Well, she's mentioned having a brother before-"

"How do ya know 'bout that?"

Jack had no idea what to do. Sophie was still in his arms and his feet were planted firmly on the ground. He's never been caught before, what should he do? Jack leaned over to put Sophie down and Aster watched the albino try to get his sister to stop clinging to him. This isn't the first time that Aster had seen Sophie latch onto someone, but he was just surprised that it was Jack. Sophie only clung to people who she was really close to, so how was she so close to Jack?

After wrestling with Sophie to get her off, Jack turned on his heels and sprinted off. "Jack wait!" Aster shouted after him before picking up Sophie and chasing after the albino. He had just caught up to his sister and now he was closing in on Jack. The Australian had always been a fast runner. With his long legs and extreme agility, he could easily outrun Jack even when Sophie was in his arms.

Looking to his right, Jack was caught off guard to see Aster there and the sudden surprise made him stumble. Aster watched as Jack tripped and made an ungraceful landing in the snow. As Jack stood back up, his blue eyes were met with Aster's.

"Alright Frost, talk."

"Why?"

"Ya got a lot of explaining to do. Now ya better start singing before I tell."

"What?"

"It's a metaphor ya drongo. It means to start talkin before I turn ya in for trespassing."

"And what would make you think that I'm a trespasser?"

"Because mate, all visitors are required to wear one of these."

Aster revealed the bright neon yellow sticker with the word "Visitor" written in it showing that he was permitted on the property. Jack sighed in defeat. Aster was right, he _did_ have a lot if explaining to do. He might as well confess to Aster now rather than to a security guard, and this was going to take awhile.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: regarding the other kids in the last chapter like sascha and peter, they are children from the Guardians of Childhood books**

Chapter Eight

"Don't even try to lie your way out if this one Frost, you've been caught red handed."

"Red handed? Who even says that anymore?"

"Don't try to change the subject Frost. Now hurry up."

"So I was just passing through the neighborhood and-"

Jack wasn't too sure about saying so much to Aster, he had only started talking to the guy today. He didn't want to suddenly open up to the taller teen and show I him how vulnerable he can be.

"As I was saying, I was walking through the neighborhood."

"Doing what?"

"You know, if you keep interrupting you'll never hear the whole thing. Anyway, before you rudely interrupted, I was passing the outside of the playground. Some of the kids know me and invited me to play and I took them up on that offer."

"Weren't you supposed to be at a meeting at Tooth's place today? Sandy texted me that you were gonna be a no show."

"Well, I can't just jump in on how you guys work. I have a life of my own, and if I just don't come home without giving my parents a heads up, they'll get worried."

Jack had lied about having parents so much, it didn't even bother him anymore. He looked at Aster hoping that the Australian would believe him. Had he lied to him? Yes, but not entirely. He wasn't lying about some of the kids knowing about him, and they always loved to play with him.

Aster glanced at Jack while pondering what the albino had just said. He was very unsure whether or not to believe Jack's anecdote, and he still wasn't entirely sure what Jack was even doing here.

"So let me get this straight, you were walking home, and a couple of kids saw you and asked you to come and play?"

"Yes."

"Well listen here Frosty, there's a couple of holes in your story there. For example, the kids here should know that they can't invite strangers-"

"Who said I was a stranger? They know me and I know them."

"And who might 'them' be?"

Jack knew that the first kids to befriend him from the school were Jamie and Pippa, but he was having mixed feelings about if he should include them or not. What if he got them in trouble?

"How would you know? I don't exactly see you socializing all day with the kids here."

"Then how do you know Sophie?"

"She doesn't exactly stay in one place. Sometimes she wanders off."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of my own sister."

"Did you know that she would break away from her class sometimes? I've seen her drift out onto the playground when-"

"So have you been watching her?"

"What? No! I'm not stalking your sister if that's what you're assuming. I just happen to see her run off sometimes when I'm with a few of the kids here."

While Aster has been interrogating Jack, Sophie was making a miniature snowman if her own. It wasn't much if a snowman, it was more like a one foot tall pile of snow but at least she wasn't scurrying away from the two older boys.

"Somethin tells me you're not being entirely honest with me."

"If you say it's your gut feeling or whatever, I swear-"

"So North told you 'bout his belly?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm sure you can tell me all about it once you actually tell me what's going on with you."

"I already told you!"

"No, you told me some made up story. Now talk Frosty."

Jack sighed to himself and his shoulders were slumped forward. It looks like he couldn't lie his way out of trouble this time, and he couldn't run off either. He had to admit, he was impressed when he saw how fast Aster was. Jack had always considered himself the fastest runner he knew, until he was proven wrong a few short minutes ago.

Aster was impatiently tapping his foot on the frozen ground. He knew for a fact that Jack was lying now. It took the kid about ten seconds to respond which meant that he was thinking of an excuse. Jack sighed in defeat accounting that he couldn't lie about his purpose for being at the elementary school anymore. He would have to tell Aster the truth, no matter how nosy and how annoying the Australian was acting at the moment.

"So what do you want to know?"

"Like I said, everything. And this time, don't lie to me."

"Alright so, I come here a lot and-"

"I didn't know that you have siblings here."

"Well, yes and no, but that's a long and personal story so I'll just skip that and continue."

Jack was not in the mood to tell Aster about his relationships with Jamie and Pippa. Jamie came from his mother and Pippa came from his father. It was as simple as that but then Jack would have to confess to Aster his whole history with his parents and he wasn't up to doing that.

"For a long time, I've been coming here. The kids really seem to enjoy it when I come and we all have one big laugh and have fun together. Now, I may not give them colorful hard-boiled eggs or give them presents, but what I do know is that they would surely miss me if I was gone."

"But how do you even get in?"

"Through a hole in the fence."

"What?"

"There's a hole, that I crawl through, that is located in the back of the fence. The school is too lazy to fix it so as long as it's there, I'm free to come."

"No, you're not. Everyone who comes here has to sign in at the front desk like a civilized person."

"Oh really? Then tell me this, if you worked at the front desk, and every weekday this boy with white hair and skin as pale as a corpse showed up at the door claiming that he was there to visit the children, would you let him? My appearance isn't exactly the most warming thing around."

Jack had natural white hair, and there were quite a few people who thought that he used hair dye even though those accusations were completely false. Despite being an albino, he still looked shady with his hood always up when he's around the building and that made him look like a street rat. It didn't help that his converse shoes were tattered either. Jack didn't want to be mistaken as some homeless pedophile that uses hair dye; he just wanted to have fun with the kids.

Aster thought that the story Jack was telling him sounded more solid than his previous one, but just because it was solid didn't mean that it was the truth.

"Still not sure if I should believe you or not."

"And I'm not sure if I can trust you or not. Listen, I've been coming here every day after school since my freshman year. I have a sentimental value over certain kids here. Take Sophie for example. She knows me, and I know her. I've played with her before, and you can even ask her."

"We're not gonna drag my little sister into this."

"But you're the one who wanted to know the truth weren't you? Just ask her a simple question about me and she'll cooperate."

Jack crossed his arms at Aster as he watched him lean down at Sophie. Aster glanced at Jack one more time before talking to his sister.

"Sophie,"

"Hm?"

"Do you know who that gumby is over there?"

Aster pointed over to Jack who was bewildered by what a "gumby" was. Sophie took one look at Jack before nodding.

"Jack!"

"So you _do_ know him?"

"Fun! Fun!"

Sophie ran over to Jack and began to run circles around the teen. Jack just gave a smug look at Aster as the toddler stayed close.

"See? I told you she knew me."

"Well I guess that proves it, some of it."

"What do you mean some of it?"

"It doesn't prove that you've been coming here for as long as you have been."

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was Aster being so difficult about this? Was he being so insufferable on purpose? Did Aster just want to push Jack's buttons?

"Okay, you know what? Believe whatever you want to believe. I've already overstayed my nonexistent welcome here."

He turned around and was about to trudge back to the fence so that he could exit but he suddenly heard Aster protest.

"Hold on there Frosty,"

"What? You still feel like you need to accuse me of other stupid things?"

"Oi, first of all, knock it off with the attitude. I don't have to stand here out in the cold and listen to you being as moody as a teenage girl."

"And this is supposed to prevent me from leaving how?"

"The point is, what you said earlier, 'bout coming to play with the kids here,"

"What about it?"

"Was it true?"

"Why would I lie about making outdoor experiences fun for children?"

Jack had a point there. He had no reason to lie about playing with kids. While he was tracking down Sophie, Aster had walked past a class coming back from recess and they were all covered in snow and smiling happily. Was it because of Jack?

"How many times do I have to tell you Kangaroo? I come in, hide from teachers, give the kids a good time, and leave when recess for them is over. It's as simple as that and it's a routine for me. I would have already been gone and this whole situation could have been avoided, but I was side tracked by Sophie. For an older brother, you're not that good at keeping track of her."

Aster rolled his eyes.

/

The two teens and Sophie proceeded to walk away from the elementary school. Jack was talking and playing with Sophie during the entire time while Aster watched. Despite how aggravating Jack could be at times, he wasn't _that_ annoying once you get to know him, but Aster would never tell him. Not yet. They still had plenty of work to do, and then he would decide if he was too quick to judge Jack.

The wind picked up and Sophie became as bright as the sun. She threw her kite up in the air and squealed with joy at seeing it fly. Her joy was brief as she accidentally let go of the kite and it flew off into a nearby tree. She pouted in disappointment at seeing her brand new, handmade kite become tangled in tree branches. "Aster! Aster! Aster! Kite!" she called to her older brother. Aster looked up to see Sophie's glittery kite captured in the tree above their head. Then he looked down at her frowning. Her kite had soared much too high for him to reach, and climbing up would be too dangerous accounting that the tree was frozen in frost. Bending down to Sophie's eye level, Aster explained the situation to her.

"I'm really sorry ya little ankle biter, but the wind carried your kite up too high."

"B-But kite!"

Aster picked up his unsatisfied sister and tried to comfort her as she frowned.

Jack was watching the whole scene play out. He liked children, they were much more fun than the teenagers at his school, and he did not like seeing Aster's four year old sister being so sad about losing her new kite. Deciding that he couldn't just stand there and do nothing, Jack stormed up to the tree's base. His hand wrapped around a frosted branch and his left foot was placed against the trunk. No words came from his mouth as he lifted off of the ground and began his trek up the frozen tree. He was good at climbing. he climbed the trees by the orphanage all the time before they were cut down. Jack was like a monkey when it came to scaling up anything.

"Frost! What do you think you're doing?"

Jack was already ten feet off of the ground when he peered down at Aster.

"What does it look like? I'm going to get Sophie's kite."

"No Frosty, it's too high up and it's way to reckless to climb the tree when the bark is frosted over. Just come down before you fall."

"Glad to know you care Kangaroo."

Jack turned away from Aster and continued to climb up the branches. He ignored the protests being screamed from the Australian below and instead focused on making it to the top.

A brisk wind blew past Jack the higher he advanced and climbing the tree had started to become tedious for him. The branches were slippery with frozen frost and some of them even broke away before Jack could put his weight on it. What was he thinking? Aster was right, climbing this tree to fetch a kite _was_ reckless. Jack fell off of a bus today, he was supposed to be taking it easy! What if he fell? What if he busted his head open when he landed?

No, he would not think about falling.

He was already twenty five feet up in the tree and the kite was still out of his reach.

"Climb! Climb!" Sophie chimed to Jack as she hopped up and down. She was unaware how anxious her brother was feeling and how much of a difficult time Jack was having. Her brother was holding her hand as he watched Jack's form disappear into the jungle of frozen branches.

He wished that Jack would stop and come down.

He hoped that Jack would just admit defeat and stop acting so stubborn.

He prayed that Jack would not fall.

A few minutes ago Aster was just starting to warm up to Jack, and now the albino was risking his neck trying to receive Sophie's toy. Each second that passed waiting for a response from Jack seemed like hours. It wasn't until ten minutes later Aster heard Jack yell.

"Hey I got the kite!"

"Great. Now hurry up and get down!"

"Oh my gosh Aster, the view up here is amazing! You can even see the lake outside of town from here!"

Jack smiled to himself as he looked down on the town. This was more extravagant than the view from his room! He was very high up in a very small town, so Jack was taking in as much scenery as he could. With one glance Jack was enabled to view the orphanage, the high school, the elementary school, cars speeding along the roads, the park and the forest behind it, the frozen lake, and whatever else in Burgess that was worth beholding. This was better than standing on his school bus!

"Frosty you better come down now!"

Jack rolled his eyes. Why did someone always have to rain on his parade? A few more minutes at the top of the tallest tree in town while grasping onto a glittery kite wouldn't hurt him, right?

"I mean it! Stop being so brainless Frost!"

Aster's complaints were really beginning to annoy Jack, so he sighed as he finally began to climb down. "Hey I'm going to drop Sophie's kite down, so make sure you catch it." Jack yelled down. He let go of the toy and it plummeted gracefully to the ground where Aster snatched it out of the air. Now all that was left was for Jack to leave the tree. Aster handed the kite to Sophie who happily accepted it. His gaze was focused on Jack and he didn't realize that Sophie had begun to play with her kite again.

"Aster! Kite fly like bird! Cheep cheep!"

Sophie made bird noises as her brother turned around to see the wind picking at Sophie's kite.

"Wait, Sophie make sure you hold-"

The kite slipped out of Sophie's hands once again and began to fly back towards Jack who was still climbing down.

"Jack be careful!"

Jack looked down to see Sophie's kite fly back up to him. The wind caused the blue ribbon hanging off the end of the toy to tangle itself around Jack's left arm. As he struggled to get it off, the wind blew once more. Jack was slapped by the body of the kite while still high up in the tree and he cursed at the wind. He was only met with more wind blowing even harder at his body making him struggle even more. It was as if the wind was trying to make him fall on purpose. His confusion caused his foot to move down to a branch and he gasped at it broke under him. As he searched for an alternative place to set his foot down b, his bad luck decided for him as the branches he was holding onto snapped as well.

/

"Aster should have been here half an hour ago!"

"Calm down Tooth, I'm sure he's doing fine. Aster is a big boy and it is unlikely if him to get into trouble."

"But-"

"His little sister wanders off, right?"

"Yes, it is common for Sophie to run a way frequently."

"Then Aster is probably busying himself trying to catch her. She's a sneaky one, and our friend probably lost track if time."

"I guess you're right."

Tooth looked down at the notes she was taking. North was right, Aster most likely just lost track if time. She wouldn't be surprised if he did. During their sophomore year, Aster was working on an art project and he became so focused in what he was doing, that he didn't notice that he had worked through the entire night without any sleep.

"So shall we continue then?"

"Yes, I think that would be best."

"Alright, we still need to finish two hundred eggs and get the prizes to put in them. I think we should spend less money on candy this year since I don't want anyone to get any cavities. If we do get candy, I'd prefer it to be the sugar free kind..."

North was hardly paying attention to Tooth's chatter. Every now and then he would nod his head to show that he knew what they were doing for Easter this year. Across the room, Sandy was taking an afternoon nap and snoozing through whatever they were saying. They would have to bring him up to speed later as well as Jack who couldn't even make it. North was still curious about what Jack was doing, but whatever it was he was sure that it was nothing harmful. The albino is probably off doing a family affair or something as equally important.

"North? Are you even listening?"

"Hm? Oh, of course!"

"Right, so as I was saying, I think we should visit the park prior to the egg hunt so that we can find good hiding places. We have one more week after this so we should have enough time to finish early. I know how important this is to Aster, so..."

North stared down at his open binder that he was supposed to be writing down notes in. Honestly, he didn't need to write anything down. His memory was perfect; therefore, he had no reason to take notes. North glanced at the clock, soon they would have to leave Tooth's house and drive over to Aster's. He should be there by then as well as Sophie, so they should all have nothing to worry about.

/

Jack's body tumbled through the tree. He had never despised gravity so much in his life before. At least falling through the branches was slowing his undesirable descent.

Aster's eyes followed Jack as he broke through the branches. All along Aster had been warning Jack, telling him to come down, and now he was falling. Every grunt he heard escape Jack sent a shiver down Aster's spine. At least Sophie was too occupied in the snow to witness anything. Her back was turned so she didn't see Jack crash through the tree. Aster stood in front of Sophie just in case. She shouldn't be exposed to see Jack's brutal landing in the snow. After all, the only reason he was up in the tree in the first place was to retrieve _her_ kite. If Sophie saw how Jack was being treated by gravity, she may start crying.

_Thud._

Aster winced as he heard Jack land on the frozen ground. At least he had landed in a clump of snow. He ran over to where Jack was lying and saw that pine needles were snagged in his hair and there were a few tears in his clothes from where the branches tore at it. Jack's landing wasn't that hard since the soft snow broke most of his fall, but Aster hoped nothing else was broken.

Jack had just landed on the ground, and it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. He thought that he would have crashed down but instead he fell onto the snow. At least it didn't hurt that much. He was about to get up and brush off the snow from his clothes when he heard Aster's voice.

"Frost? You okay Jack? C'mon mate wake up."

Jack felt Aster nudge his body when an idea hatched in his mind.

Maybe he should keep his eyes shut for just a little while longer.

He had only started talking to Aster today; perhaps he could really see how much the Australian cared. If Jack wasn't acting so sober right now, he'd be smirking.

Sophie wasn't paying attention to Jack as she assumed that he was "napping in the snow" which sounded like an odd thing to do. She was piling up snow again with the thought of her kite already erased from her mind. Being so young, her attention span was so short. Sophie didn't even know why her brother was trying wake up her sleeping friend.

"Listen ya gumby,"

…

"Jack, seriously,"

…

"This isn't funny get up!"

Jack could sense the urgency in Aster's voice. That proved enough for him to stick around and he was about to get up when he heard Sophie's voice call out to him.

"Jack Jack!"

Sophie ran over to where Jack was in the snow and looked down at him. Even though he wasn't looking up, Jack could feel Sophie's eyes stare at him with curiosity. However, he didn't see Sophie take off her mittens. She wanted to play, and she wanted Jack to play too. With her mittens off, Sophie began to use a tactic that she used to wake her brother up.

Jack felt the presence of Sophie's fingers as she began to tickle him. A smile tugged at his lips when she wouldn't stop. Normally this would be ineffective, but Jack's clothing was very thin and he wasn't wearing a thick, winter coat like everyone else. Before he could hush himself, Jack let out a quiet chuckle to himself. Sophie heard his response and it prompted her to continue even more.

Aster watched as Jack suddenly began to laugh. He let out a sigh of relief at seeing Jack respond and that he wasn't dead. Sophie was laughing along with Jack as well and Aster couldn't help but smile. Just a few seconds ago he was panicking about whether or not Jack would even open his eyes and now he was having a laughing fit on the ground.

"C-Come on Sophie! S-Stop!" Jack protested as he tried to escape the four year old. Sophie disobeyed his orders and continued to tickle him senseless.

"Alright ya little ankle biter, I think he's had enough. We don't want him to have an accident now do we?" Aster said to his little sister. Sophie ceased ticking Jack allowing the teen to breathe while he sat up. Wiping the snow off of his face, Jack inhaled the cold winter air. His cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, but at least he wasn't being violated by a toddler anymore. He walked over to Aster and gave him a pat on the back.

"Good to see how much you care Kangaroo."

"Oh, you heard all that?"

"Yep. I was fine and was about to get up when you're sister showed up."

"Listen mate, sorry 'bout all that trouble ya went through for Sophie's kite and about the whole falling out of the tree thing."

"Don't worry about it Kangaroo. She's only four so-"

"How do you know her age? I never told ya."

"Let's see, she started sneaking out of her class to play with some of the older kids for a month. I've been coming here since my first year of high school. I've played with her as well for weeks and I'm bound to learn a few things about her."

Their conversation was interrupted when Aster's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Jack held onto Sophie's hand while Aster answered whoever it was that was calling him.

* * *

**A/N: okay i think ill just end todays chapter here. i would have uploaded more today but middle school is being unkind to me and i have a massive headache T^T**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: omg this fanfic has over 100 reviews now :D i know its n ot that much compared to Sleep but im still grateful because there are a lot of talented authors on this website**

Chapter Nine

Aster looked at his cell phone screen to see that Tooth was calling him. He mentally face palmed as he remembered that they were having a meeting at her house today, which he was supposed to attend after picking up Sophie. Pressing the call button, Aster answered his friend.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Aster where are you? It doesn't take you that long to pick up Sophie does it? We're almost done with the planning and-"

"Alright alright Tooth I get it. I just got a little side tracked that's all."

"So what's taking so long?"

"Well, I'm with Sophie right now-"

"Did she run away?"

"At first she did, but everything's all taken care of."

"So are you home yet?"

"That's the thing. I ran into Jack at the elementary school."

At hearing those words, Jack suddenly looked at Aster and shook his head indicating that he should really shut up right now. He doesn't want Aster to be going around blurting out to everyone that he sneaks into the elementary school to play with the kids. If more people knew, then word might get gout to the staff workers.

"You ran into Jack? As in, our Jack?"

"Yeah.

"What was he doing there? I didn't know that he had younger siblings."

"He doesn't."

"Then why was he there? Was he picking up somebody?"

"As it turns out, he-"

Aster was cut off when Jack snatched the phone from his hands. "What are you doing?"Jack asked. "Are you going to tell everyone you know about me?"

"Tooth has a right to now as of why you skipped out on us."

"You see, this is why I don't tell anyone anything. They go ahead and tell it to everyone they know even though they don't have the permission to do it."

"Listen mate, it won't hurt her to know and if she does, then you won't have to lie to her all the time. Trust me, it's better that she knows."

Jack looked at Aster silent still hesitant on giving him back his cell phone. After one moment, he sighed before staring at the ground as he held out Aster's cell phone. The Australian quickly grabbed it before Jack could change his mind and returned to his conversation with Tooth.

"Hello? Tooth ya still there?"

"Yes. What happened? Did you drop your phone?"

"No, Jack took it from me."

"He's there with you?"

"Yeah, so anyway as I was saying, Jack apparently has little friends at the school who he plays with while they're at recess."

"Is he allowed to do that?"

"Judging from how spooked he was when I caught him, no."

"How long has he been doing that?"

"Since his freshman year."

"So that's what he was doing instead of meeting with us? Playing with kids?"

"Yep."

"But if you are with Jack, shouldn't the two of you have come to my house by now?"

"Well the thing is sheila, both of us kinda got side tracked together."

Aster had no intentions to tell Tooth that Jack fell out of a tree. He had a hypothesis that Tooth had a major crush on Jack and if she discovered what had happened to him, she would smother him with care. Tooth wouldn't even let Jack out of her sight if she knew how much trouble he could get himself into on his own.

"It was nothing really. The whole thing settled itself out."

"Oh, well that's good to hear. The meeting at my house just ended and all of us are on our way to your house to start working on the eggs. Think you can make it?"

"Tooth, it's my house, where I live."

"I'm just making sure so that you and Jack won't get side tracked again."

"Fine."

"One more thing,"

"What?"

"Is Jack with you right now?"

"He's right in front of me keeping Sophie occupied."

"Then can I talk to him?"

"Sure."

Aster was about to pass his phone to Jack when he saw how he was playing with Sophie. Jack was acting like a dragon while Sophie was role playing as a fair maiden. He had never seen Sophie look so amused and happy before. The look on her face made Aster's heart melt at seeing her having such a good time with Jack. It was as if those two were close friends that knew exactly how to interact with each other. Seeing both Jack and Sophie laughing together, Aster didn't want to spoil their fun by interrupting.

"Actually Tooth, he's a little busy right now but if you have a message for him I can pass it onto him."

"Okay. Tell him that he doesn't need to lie to us about his plans."

"Got it. I have to go now."

"I understand. We're almost at your house so we'll meet you there."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Aster closed his cell phone after saying his goodbyes to Tooth. He then proceeded to turn to Jack to inform him that they had to get a move on.

"Alright Frosty, Tooth said-"

_Splat._

Jack and Sophie were giggling together at the snowball that was hurled at Aster while the Australian wiped the snow off of his face.

"Did you throw that Frosty?"

"Throw what?"

"The snowball!"

"What snowball?"

"The one that his me in the face!"

"What hit you in the face?"

Aster sighed and face palmed while Jack just smirked at him. Sophie was at their heels giggling to herself at how silly they were acting before he brother continued.

"Anyway, Tooth said-"

"Oh yeah, you were about to tell me something Tooth said. So what was it?"

"Well, before you decided to act like a child, she was saying that we missed the meeting at her house."

"You mean _you_ missed the meeting at her house. I wasn't going anyways and just because I'm with you guys now doesn't give you the right to launch me into how you do things."

Aster rolled his eyes at Jack. There were times when this kid could be so intolerable to people.

"As I was saying, Tooth said that they finished the planning without us and we're gonna have to be brought up to speed later. The rest of 'em are waiting back at my place and as soon as we get there we can start making the eggs."

"Don't you mean painting them?"

"No mate, I mean actually making the eggs. We cast them in resin so that each one if custom made and then we paint 'em."

"Why don't you just buy plastic eggs?"

"Have you seen the size of those things? You can only fit choking hazards in them and the ones that we make are much larger. The way we do it is so that the googies we put in the eggs are kid friendly."

"That seems like a lot of unnecessary work just for an Easter egg hunt."

"Of course you wouldn't understand. You're just like North. The two of you have now idea how important Easter can be."

Jack was about to retaliate with a sarcastic answer when Sophie cut him off. "Aster! Up up!" she chimed as she was hopping up and down while waiting for her brother to give her a lift. She didn't even care that her kite was gone.

"Alright ya little ankle biter."

Aster bent down and picked up Sophie in his arms. He still had to take her home so that she could have her afternoon nap.

"Oi, Frosty,"

"What?"

"Ya better come with me to my house if ya know what's good for ya. You can't be skipping out on us all the time."

"Yeah sure."

Jack had no choice but to accompany Aster. Jamie and Pippa were still attending school, he didn't feel like doing his homework, and making plastic eggs seemed more interesting than being cooped up in the orphanage. Jack was really apathetic about whether or not he would be adopted by now. In a few weeks, he would qualify as a legal adult on his eighteenth birthday. Besides, it'd be nice to see Tooth again. She was so nice to Jack, and he felt like she wanted him to feel included with them. But it wasn't just Tooth he was looking forward to spending time with. No, it wasn't just her. There was also Sandy. He was pretty cool according to Jack.

The scrawny boy trudged along with Aster to his home. He was part of a group now, he was _actually_ being included. Instead if everyone in the group ignoring him, they were actually acknowledging him. Jack was beginning to think that he should return the favor to them. He would not be a slacker in the group and he would not neglect them. If he did that, he'd never hear the end of it.

/

They had been walking for five minutes already and Jack noticed that there were a few bruises forming on his arms. He tugged his sleeves down not wanting Aster to see them. He knew that Aster was already feeling guilty that Sophie was the cause of Jack's little accident with the tree, but Jack didn't need anyone's help. He could take care of his own well being by himself. It wasn't like he's been taking care if himself for a majority of his life anyways.

Jack could faintly remember his father before he left, but he did remember his mother. She would always be working trying to support him, so Jack barely got to see her. Even when he was a toddler alone in his dark room in the middle of the night, she wasn't there. Jack had to learn to comfort himself, which he had done. It wasn't until his mother started working two jobs did he start taking care of himself completely. He didn't have time to make friends, not that anyone in elementary school wanted to befriend him anyways.

"Hurry up Frosty, you're laggin behind."

Jack looked up to see that Aster was waiting for him up ahead with Sophie. How long had he been falling behind? The last time Jack checked, Aster was only three feet ahead of him. Now the Australian was almost an entire block ahead. Jack quickened his pace and caught up to his acquaintance.

"Try to keep up mate."

Jack nodded his head in response and kept going. Time had always seemed to slip away whenever he lamented on his childhood.

/

By the time they reached the Bunnymund household, everyone was already there waiting for them. North's van was parked in the driveway while North, Sandy, and Tooth waited for them.

"There you are! What took you guys so long?" Tooth questioned them. "We've been waiting here for at least ten minutes."

"Sorry, some of aren't that quick on our feet." Aster responded as he looked in Jack's direction. Jack had been walking so slow while they were traveling. It was like he was thinking about whether or not he actually wanted to come. What they didn't know was that Jack was actually _very_ quick on his feet. He may not be the fastest runner like Aster, but Jack was very nimble and very well balanced, most of the time. He was just slowed down from all of the incidents he faced today.

"What's in your hair Jack?" North asked. He could see snow camouflaged in Jack's white locks as well as dark green pine needles. As soon as those words left North's mouth, Jack and Aster glanced at each other. Aster shrugged leaving Jack to stammer out an answer.

"Well uh, it's nothing really. It's just a bit of nature."

"I don't think so. Are those pine needles?"

"You see, Aster and I were having a snowball fight, and we were running around. There was some loose snow piled up on a tree branch, and it kinda fell on my head."

"Is that what made the two if you take so long?"

"Yes, and the fact that Sophie ran off a few times."

North nodded his head fully believing in what Jack had said. Sandy cocked his head to the side half believing Jack. He had seen how Aster and Jack glanced at each other, and Jack's jaw made a slight hesitation before he told his story.

Wanting to change the subject, Jack noticed that Tooth was holding a binder to her chest. Everything about the Easter egg hunt should be written down in there, so it provided Jack with the perfect reason to use it as a distraction.

"So Tooth, what are we supposed to be doing right now?"

"It's good to see that you've taken an interest Jack. I'm glad you asked, so now I can tell you and Aster at the same time. Today, we're supposed to start making the eggs and I'm sure Aster has already informed you about that, right?"

"He said something about casting them because its better to making them ourselves."

"The way we make them is that we pour resin into molds and once they dry we paint them. It was all Aster's idea and I think it makes out version of an egg hunt unique from others. Besides, if they were really small, then there's a chance of someone tripping over them. I remember last year this one girl was running and she accidentally stepped on one of the eggs that was bought from a store. She ended up chipping a tooth! I don't want anything like that to happen again."

Jack was paying attention to half of what Toothiana was saying. In retrospect he wasn't that all interested, he just needed to steer the conversation onto a different path. He wasn't even sure what Tooth was rambling on about anymore. At first she was talking normally, but then it quickly escalated into her talking a mile a minute. Was she talking about children's teeth? Whatever it was, she kept chatting about it as they all entered Aster's house.

/

"Mum, this is Jack Frost. He's the new member of our little group." Aster said as he introduced his mother to Jack. "He may not seem like much, but the bloke isn't half bad."

Mrs. Bunnymund held Sophie in her arms as she stood in the hallway. Her green eyes scanned Jack as he stood silent besides her son. "'Ello Jack, it's nice to meet you. It's good to see that Aster is making new friends." she said while smiling at the teen. Jack noticed that her Australian accent was very mild. She most likely grew up in the United States, spent a portion of her life in Australia, got married there, had Aster, and lived there for for at least fifteen years before coming back to America. Sophie was most likely born within the country but at the moment her sentences were more similar to single phrases so it was rather difficult to tell.

Jack was frozen in place as he blinked at her. It wasn't until Aster nudged him did he say something.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Bunnymund."

"You can call me Mrs. B if you'd like to."

Jack didn't have much experience talking to the mothers of his friends. He's never had friends before, meaning that he's never been introduced to other parents. Even at the orphanage parents looking to adopt would pay no attention to him. It was as if he was invisible to them. If they actually acknowledged Jack, it wouldn't even make a difference. Everyone would adopt the younger kids despite how bratty or spoiled they were. No one ever wanted a teenager like Jack.

Mrs. Bunnymund took Sophie upstairs leaving Aster and everyone else to do what they needed. She's known her son's three closest friends for so long now, they're like part of the family. Mrs. Bunnymund was great friends with the other moms too. Mrs. North and Mrs. ManSnoozie were very friendly while Mrs. Fairie was always busy with her own family.

Aster and everyone else were still in the hallway and Jack was glancing around. He's spent his days at the orphanage for so long, he barely remembered what it's like to be in a family's actual home. He saw pictures of Aster when he was young, and very short too. Jack couldn't even believe that the tiny boy in the framed pictures hanging in the walls was Aster. It just shows that puberty really does change you.

"Frosty did you hear me? I said he have to start workin now."

Jack looked back at Aster who was staring back at him. When did he say anything? The albino swore that Aster didn't say a word to him but then again, he was probably too busy gawking around to listen. Jack nodded to Aster and he followed the Australian. He didn't know where they were going, but his thoughts were soon answered when they stopped near the entrance of the garage. Jack was about to open the door when Sandy grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"No?"

Sandy nodded and pointed allowing Jack so see why they weren't going into the garage. In the room adjacent from the entrance to the garage, was Aster. He was standing over a door in the floor much similar to the door in the ceiling that Jack used to get into his bedroom. It wasn't much of a bedroom though. His living space was basically an attic full of dusty boxes with a bed, one wooden dresser, a window to the outside, and a battery powered lantern as a lamp. There used to be an alarm clock, but it was smashed into pieces this morning when Jack wouldn't wake up. To others it may seem like a horrible place to live, but Jack was fine with it. The window in the attic had a fantastic view of the forest and the frozen lake outside of town and the best thing about it was that it could open. His window gave Jack an opportunity to climb out whenever he wanted to and no one would even know.

Jack turned his head to get a better view of the door in the floor and saw that there was a flower on top. It seemed rather out of place since it just looked like it was a random plant in the middle of a hardwood floor. Maybe it was for decoration? There was no possible way that a flower could grow on top of a wooden trapdoor, so it was obviously a fake plant.

Aster opened up a latch and flipped the door open revealing a staircase. Tooth, North, and Sandy walked down the steps as they had years of experience working with Aster under the same conditions. While they moved down, Jack lingered where he was. "Are you coming or not mate?" asked Aster. "We haven't got all day."

"Why does your house have a door in the floor?"

"This house was built way before my parents' time. I'm surprised it's still kickin around today. Whoever built this house obviously wanted to have a hidden underground basement or something like that. My folks have no use for it, so they let me use it."

"And what about the flower?"

"That's just there for decoration. Now, are ya comin or not?"

Jack nodded before following Aster down the flight of stairs. They led to a dim hallway illuminated with flickering light bulbs that were strung on the walls. It wasn't long before the two teens entered a room where their other three friends resided. Jack was surprised as he glanced around at the basement. It was very wide and there were even windows at the tops of the walls where sunlight seeped through. If you looked out of them, you would see the surface of the frozen ground outside while still remaining beneath it. For an underground basement, it was very well lit. The sunlight lit up the room while a few electric lanterns assisted as well. There was even an array of shelves and tables lined up around the room's perimeter that each held some sort of art supply ranging from chalk pastels to clay.

"What do you think Jack?" said Tooth at seeing Jack walk in. Jack spun around to face her.

"Well, it's certainly a place that I've never been in before. Do you guys really work down here?"

"Yeah we do it all the time! I know it may seem cool at first, but after a while it just starts to feel like a normal art room. We usually work down here for Easter and then during Christmas we're mostly in North's garage helping out."

"So what exactly are we doing again?"

"You can just ask Aster if you'd like. We basically just pour resin into molds and wait for them to dry."

"Is that it?"

"Pretty much. Our goal is to spend the rest of today and Saturday making the two hundred eggs and once we're done we'll fill them with little prizes for the kids. I think we could easily accomplish that since there'll be five of us working instead of just four this year."

Once Tooth finished her conversation with Jack, the group of five set up a working space. Bottles of resin ready to be poured into egg molds lined a few tables that were pushed together while a roll of paper towels rested besides them. As soon as they were complete in setting up, they all got to work.

/

"No Jack, if you pour too fast then the mold will overflow." Tooth instructed to the albino. Jack stepped back when some of the resin flowed over the edge of the mold and he quickly wiped it up with a few paper towels. That was the fifth mold he had overflowed in the past half hour. He always seemed to mess up in trying to make the eggs, and he didn't have years of experience making them like the others. Jack was still new to everything that they did and it didn't help that he made a mess of literally everything. Who else falls of of their school bus? Who else receives their first kiss by tripping and falling on a pretty girl while making a sack of flour explode?

"Want me to help Jack?"

"Yeah, I think that would be best."

Tooth walked over to Jack with a clean mold in her hands. She knew that he was becoming frustrated, and she didn't want that. There were countless of times when Jack would either pour too much or too little even though he was trying his very hardest. Tooth placed her hands on Jack's and helped guide them in the right path. Despite how cold her hands were, Tooth felt warm inside. She showed him how to pour the resin without making bubbles, how to know the right amount to pour, and how to stop. Ten minutes had passed while she was tutoring him, but Jack didn't mind at all. Not only was he learning how to properly cast the eggs, but there was a part of him that was enjoying Tooth's company.

His feelings for Tooth were only platonic, right?

In just one day, Jack had already gotten close to Tooth a handful of times. He still wasn't quite sure what he should do about this. She's just his friend. She doesn't like him in _that_ way, does she? Jack just became friends with her today; the two of them couldn't possibly develop a crush on one another in just one day.

Besides, who would be foolish enough to actually have a crush on him anyways?

He just made a disaster where ever he went. Jack was like a ticking time bomb ready to accidentally go off at any second.

Despite being confused about his emotions, Jack did know one thing. Tooth just saw him as a friend. It was true that she enjoyed looking at his teeth, but that was only because she adored teeth and his were so white and perfect.

Jack barely talked to anyone, especially those of the opposite gender.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: i really want to start writing a series of rotg oneshots and my new multi chapter fic but im working on this already ;_;**

Chapter Ten

Jack and Sandy were standing side by side while they poured resin into molds. In the few hours that they've been working, they had already reached the halfway mark of their goal. They even put dye in the resin to make assorted colors. Tooth was across from them doing the same while the sound of Aster bickering with North could be heard in the background.

"That's too Christmasy mate, make 'em blue."

"I think Easter could use more red. There's too many pinks and blues and-"

"Are you thick headed or somethin? It's Easter!"

It seemed that every twenty minutes a conflict would spark between the Russian and the Australian. From color schemes to the size of the egg, Aster was being very picky. He wanted this year to be perfect, and he had no intentions to allow a portion of the eggs look like Christmas decorations. Aster knew that Sophie would be participating in the egg hunt this year, and she loved colors. Anything that was bright in rich in vibrant colors attracted her as if she was a moth to a fire.

"North what did I just say?"

"What's wrong with them now? I'm only making them green."

"Exactly! That's _regular_ green as in dark and like a forest or the grass. They need to be_ light_ green or else nobody will be able to find them in the grass or trees."

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance. Leave it to Aster to flare up about the different shades of green. He looked over to Tooth and asked her if North and Aster were always like this.

"They do this every year. One prefers a certain holiday over the other and when you put them together, it equals nonstop disagreements. After a while you get used to it and they're just fussing at each other." she explained to him. "They're actually pretty good friends and it's not like they intend to get under each other's skin, it can just happen. Besides, it's just a bunch of light hearted arguments."

Sandy nodded on agreement with Tooth while Jack just stared at them.

"Really? They do this every year?"

"Yeah. You should see them during Christmas."

"But they've been segueing about colors for at least half an hour now. Don't they ever take a break?"

"Sandy and I really have no role in it, so we just let it solve itself."

"But why do they get so defensive about Christmas and Easter?"

"Well..."

Tooth was about to tell Jack a long story about North and Aster's opinions on the two holidays when Sandy tugged on Jack's sleeve.

"What's up Sandy?"

The shorter teen pointed across the room to a shelf located high up on the wall that towered over various other shelves beneath it. A stack of containers rested on top while a counter was placed below the shelves.

"You want me to get that?"

Sandy nodded once again. Being only four feet tall and eleven inches, he was too short to reach the top shelf himself. The stepping stools were upstairs and Jack was the third tallest person in the room. Normally he would ask North or Aster, but there were occupied in arguing with each other at the moment.

Jack walked over to the shelves and climbed onto the counter. "Do you want me to get you a stool?" Tooth asked him. " I don't want you to fall..."

According to Tooth, Jack had already taken a few nasty spills today. She didn't even know that he fell out of a tall pine tree earlier.

"I don't need a stool Tooth, I can reach it just fine."

Jack's left hand was clutching the top shelf while his right hand extended upward. He didn't even take notice that the shelf was beginning to shake under his grip. North looked up and saw Jack standing on the counter reaching for the top shelf and his big blue eyes took notice that the shelf his hand was placed on began to tremble as if it were to fall. "Jack watch out!" he yelled over.

North's booming voice startled Jack and the shelf above him finally gave away and all of the containers and products sitting on top of it began to fall. Not wanting them to fall on the ground, Jack reached out to make an effort to grab everything that was falling. His left hand wrapped around one open container which he used to catch two small bottles of paint. Jack's other hand grabbed a bowl used to mix paint in and a few more smaller cups landed in it. A small bucket was falling and he used his left foot to hook under the handle and he then used that to catch the bottle of resin that Sandy had asked for.

Not one thing on the shelf had dropped, and it was all due to Jack's quick thinking and reflexes. Balancing on his right foot, Jack stood on the counter with his hands full and a bucket hanging off of his foot. Three out of four of his appendages may be holding something, but he still couldn't believe that he had caught everything.

Jack glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Tooth.

"See Tooth? I told you that I didn't need a stool."

The other four teens stared in amazement and it wasn't until Jack had attempted to move did everything come crashing down. Jack cringed at the sound of everything he was holding drop onto the ground nosily.

"Smooth move, ya show pony."

"No one asked for your opinion, Kangaroo."

He may have made a mess, but at least he had gotten the bottle of resin for Sandy. Jack just brushed off the little incident since he was used to making a mess of everything ever since he was born. He even made a mess of his parent's marriage because he was the source of all of it. Jack picked up the bottle of resin and held it out to Sandy who smiled as he took it. Aster just rolled his eyes knowing that they would now have to pick everything up but instead he just walked off. "Well, we might as well clean this up." Tooth said as she bent down to pick up the mess. Sandy, North, and Jack did the same and one by one they placed everything that had fallen onto the counter.

Tooth was on her knees next to Jack as they collected what was left. "I thought you were really cool back their Jack. You have awesome balance and good reflexes." Tooth complimented to him. "Where did you learn to do things like that?"

Jack's icy blue eyes looked up at her as he responded.

"Well, I've had a lot of free time on my hands in my life, so why not learn how to balance?"

The two teens weren't even looking at the ground anymore. Engaged in a small conversation, Tooth and Jack were making direct eye contact. Without looking down, both of them placed their hand on the same container. Both of them felt each other's touch and they looked down before pulling their hands away.

"Wow Jack, your hands are really cold."

"Sorry, they're naturally like that."

"No not that it's a bad thing!"

"Yeah, I know what you meant. You were probably just startled by how cold they were."

"Yeah."

Tooth awkwardly smiled at Jack who did the same to her. His pearly white teeth were showing which only made Tooth feel even more flustered. How many awkward encounters were they going to have today? There was already the accidental kiss, but now they're hands keep ending up together. It was as if the universe was playing games with them. Maybe it was a sign? No, that would be silly. Just because they came in close physical contact a handful of times in the same day didn't mean anything. Besides, it was all on accident.

She liked him, but he probably doesn't like her back.

Does he?

How would he even know?

They just became friends today.

Although, Tooth has had a crush on Jack for a while now, and she would have to pace herself. If Tooth just rushed into things that may make Jack uncomfortable. Isn't he still trying to adjust to being in a group of friends? He doesn't need some teeth obsessed girl making a move on him. Besides, Tooth doesn't have enough courage to do that anyway.

Jack got to his feet and shuffled over to the opposite end of the room and away from Tooth. That was another weird encounter. Why would he always have an awkward moment with Tooth? He never had trouble talking to Pippa, and she was a girl. However, Tooth was Jack's age. Jack could handle being around Tooth normally, but it was just during those times where she was blushing at him where his brain just felt stupid. What was he even supposed to do? What did that even mean? Nobody told him_ anything_ about stuff like this. Maybe he was just embarrassing her? That was most likely the case.

/

It was a Friday night, meaning that the five teens were able to stay up late. Their parents had grown accustomed to their children hanging out like this, and nobody would miss Jack at the orphanage. Ms. Dawdson hated Jack and she didn't care what he did outside the orphanage as long as it wouldn't end up with the police knocking down their door.

They were all growing tired as they worked into the night. None of them took too many breaks besides small snack breaks when Mrs. Bunnymund would come down the steps with a tray in her hands. Whenever she did this, Jack did his best not to look greedy when he would eat something. He skipped breakfast and the only thing he ate for lunch was a single apple.

Jack glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost eleven at night. Sandy had dozed off about an hour ago while North had decided to take a quick nap. Did they always work this late? Jack looked over to see that Tooth was falling asleep as well and Aster yawned in the corner of the room. There were times where Jack would stay up past midnight, but he didn't always work for hours upon hours making eggs with resin.

"Aster it's almost eleven. Don't you think that this is a good stopping point?"

"Hold on, let just finish this one last egg and then we'll turn in for the night."

"You said that twenty minutes ago!"

Aster sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Jack _was _right. The five of them had been working hard and they were ahead of schedule. He could really use some shut eye anyway.

"We could stop here for the day."

"Glad you finally made your decision."

Jack and Aster were the only two people awake in the room right now. Just a few minutes ago Tooth had fallen asleep so now no one was around to listen to their conversations. Aster looked over all of the progress they had done. They only needed to make fifty more eggs and they still had one more week to finish them. All in all, he was very satisfied over how successful they were.

Jack ran a hand through his white hair. He's been pouring resin into molds for hours today and has fallen on his arse at least three times at school. He had a feeling that he would them in the morning tomorrow when he would wake up but he would deal with that later. What mattered now was that he wanted to go to bed.

Is this really what these people go through just for a holiday function?

Did they actually spend over ten hours working after school?

These people must be crazy to work this hard after school, but Jack kinda liked the craziness. If they just spent ten hours stuffing candy into store bought plastic eggs, that would be boring. At least he had some fun making the eggs himself. Besides, working with Aster and the others wasn't so bad. It gave him something to do.

This was way better than sulking in a dusty old attic or doing homework.

Jack sat on top of one of the tables and stared down at today's products. Aster sat next to him and they both stayed in silence until the Australian started talking.

"Listen, Jack,"

"Yeah?"

Aster paused for a second and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Listen mate, 'bout today at school,"

"What about it?"

"I, I'm sorry for those things I said back in the hallway. They weren't the nicest things to say-"

"Yeah, you were pretty mean back there, but-"

Jack fiddled with the draw strings in his blue hoodie. He stared at the ground and ignored Aster's gaze.

"I guess I wasn't the nicest to you either Ka-"

Jack shook his head.

"I was kind of a jerk to you in the past, and then there was that whole thing during freshman year. Sorry about that."

As hilarious as it was knowing that Aster had worn kangaroo boxers that day, it was pretty mean of Jack to do something like that to the Australian.

"But listen Aster,"

"Hmph?"

"Not that I'm trying to rub salt on the wound, but why kangaroo boxers?"

Aster pushed Jack off the table and the boy fell onto the floor. Instead of glaring back at his antagonist, Jack just laughed.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that."

"Ya got that right ya jerk."

"I'm not the only jerk here you know. I mean, you're in the room right now aren't you?"

Aster scoffed.

"Guess so, Frosty."

The taller boy got off the table and put an arm around Jack's neck. He then turned and gave Jack a noogie with his fist while he smiled. It didn't take long for his victim to squirm out, but they were both in good moods by the time it happened.

"See? You're a jerk too, Kangaroo."

Jack only wished that they were outside so that he could throw a snowball at Aster. Alas, they were not outside, they were in an underground basement with three slumbering teenagers.

"Listen up ya gumby," Aster said. "if ya wanna get back home before eleven, ya gotta wake up North and everyone else. 'Bout time for you all to head out and back to your homes. Ya parents are probably worried sick about ya."

Jack sucked in a deep breath. That's right, they don't know he doesn't has parents. He hasn't told them that he has no family or that he lives in the dusty old attic of the town's orphanage. If North was going to drive him home, maybe he could skip out and walk home? He's been out later than this, so he could navigate his way back to the orphanage in about twenty minuted depending on how dark it was.

"Frosty? Did ya hear me?"

"Loud and clear Kangaroo."

Aster walked over to North who was snoring loudly and started to wake him up.

"North! Rise and shine mate! Ya got people to drop off at their houses."

The Large Russian was startled awake by Aster and he blurted out something in Russian before calming down. North's outburst woke up Tooth but Sandy was still fast asleep. Jack walked over to Sandy and started to shake him. "Time to wake up Sandy," he said. "We have to go."

Sandy didn't even acknowledge Jack, he just rested peacefully. North joined Jack as well knowing that a small shake wouldn't be enough to wake up the golden haired boy. "Sandy is a very deep sleeper. Let me handle this Jack." he told Jack.

"Sandy,"

"…"

"Sandy,"

"…"

"WAKE UP!"

Jack's heart skipped a beat at how loud North's booming voice had turned and Sandy yawned as he finally woke up.

"Ah, good to see that you've finally woken up Sandy. Now come, it is time to go home."

North and Sandy both passed Jack as they began to walk near the room's exit.

"Jack? Aren't you coming?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah hold on, North."

Jack waved goodbye to Aster and soon he was walking up the stairs with the others. Each step he took was one step closer to North's car, every step closer to North's car was one step closer to North taking them home.

One step closer to Jack having to tell them he's an orphan.

Tooth looked over to see that Jack was staring down at the ground as he followed them out Aster's front door. "Something wrong Jack?" she asked him. "You're just looking down."

"I'm fine Tooth, I'm just thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Stuff that would take_ way_ too long to explain."

It was pitch black outside, and there would be no way that Jack could find his way on a night like this. There was snow on the ground and the roads were hidden in the darkness that succumbed them, leaving Jack with fa slim chance of walking back to the orphanage. North turned on the headlights in his car and the sound of the engine roaring caused Jack to turn around. Because of the lack of light, he only saw a silhouette of North's car since he just walked right past it earlier.

He may not be nocturnal, but Jack didn't need to have night vision to see that Tooth and Sandy were already loading into the vehicle with North. "Are you jut going to stand there Jack?" North asked. "It's too dark out here and too cold so you might want to hurry up and come in."

"Listen, North, I've been in situations like this before."

"And?"

"I think I'll just walk home."

"Nonsense!"

Before he could protests, Jack felt North's arm grasp the back of his hood. He gagged as the Russian tugged back on the clothing and pulled Jack into his car.

The lights in the van shone brightly allowing Jack to have a glimpse of the interior. He gazed around at the decorations on the inside as well as the fabricated seats. Did he smell pine? Jack looked over to see the two air fresheners hanging from the mirror as the doors slammed shut. North climbed in as well and looked back as he drove out of Aster's driveway.

This time Tooth was sitting in the back with Jack while Sandy sat up front. "You should buckle up." Tooth said to Jack. Knowing that it was too late to bail out, the orphan reluctantly searched for his seat belt. Where was his seat belt anyway? Jack didn't have time to ask because North made a sharp turn that flung Jack to the side. He was caught by Tooth and Jack was now sitting on her lap as North recklessly zoomed down the road.

Their eyes met and the two teens stared deeply into each others bright irises. Jack opened his mouth but then closed it not knowing what to say. Instead, he just muttered "sorry" under his breath before returning to his seat. Tooth watched Jack finally find his seat belt and she heard the click of it as he strapped in. That was the second time that he's fallen on her, weren't boys supposed to fall_ for_ a girl and not _on_ her? The thought was quickly pushed to the back of Tooth's mind as she softly smiled at her secret crush and turned to look outside the window.

Other than North yelling at some people jogging at night, the ride was silent. Jack and Tooth stared out opposite windows while Sandy was dropped off at his home ten minutes ago. The white haired orphan was half asleep when the car came to a screeching halt in front of Tooth's home. Tooth climbed out of the car and took one last glance at North and Jack.

"Bye guys!"

"Bye Tooth!"

"Bye."

Jack watched as she slammed the car door and ran up to the front porch of her home. He could only see that she had a massive home that was as big as a palace judging from its outline made in the night. Now he was alone with North, meaning that it was time to come clean.

"So where do you live Jack?"

"It's not that far. We should be getting close if you drive straight for a while."

Jack was doing as much stalling as he could. Luckily North just followed his directions and he began to drive straight and away from Tooth's house. They passed under dozens of flickering street lights allowing Jack to see Tooth's neighborhood.

Had she always lived this close?

The orphanage was in the next neighborhood over, how could he have not seen her house before? Jack always wandered off around town, he should have seen her home before.

"Okay, stop here."

North pushed on the breaks and they stopped on the street with very few homes lined up around it. He looked around at the small neighborhood and saw Burgess Orphanage, four surrounding homes, and a path leading to the town's park as well as the forest behind it. North didn't know that Jack lived so close to the orphanage, that must be pleasant since he can see so many kids each day.

"So which house is your Jack?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Jack pulled his hood over his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. Silently sliding out of North's car, he walked through the snow and up the path to the orphanage. He figured it was much easier to show North that he had no family or parents rather than telling him.

Even though his back was turned, Jack could still feel North's blue eyes staring back at him without a word. At least the others weren't around. Walking up to the front door of the orphanage, Jack placed his hand on the door's frozen handle and pulled on it.

Locked.

Jack banged his head in the door. It was almost eleven at night, all of the orphans had a curfew if ten. How could he forget that he was an hour late? Now he had to get into his room the other way in front of North. Ms. Dawdson never gave Jack a key, so he had no choice but to use another method of entering.

North watched Jack bang his head against the door. It was actually a sad sight to watch this. Not only was Jack alone at school, but to not have a family either? North had no idea that Jack was an orphan. Why didn't he tell them sooner? Maybe it was because they all ignored Jack until now. What made matters even worse was that it looked like Jack was locked out on a chilly night like this.

The frosted headlights on North's van provided enough light for him to see Jack scurry around to the back of the building. What was he doing? Did the orphanage have a back door?

"Jack? What are you doing?"

North climbed out if his car and he took a few steps to where Jack was.

"Why didn't you go inside?"

"They're locked and I don't have a key."

"Can't you just knock?"

"No. Ms. Dawdson, the grouchy old caretaker, hates me and she'd just slam the door since she's most likely in bed right now."

"Do you want to come back to my house? I'm sure my-"

"No really North, I appreciate the offer, but this is actually no big deal. I stay out late all the time."

Jack ran off to the very back of the orphanage and he placed his foot against the gutter drain running down the side. It wasn't until he started climbing it did he realize that North was still there to witness him. Jack sucked in a breath wishing that North wasn't watching him scale up the side of the building via drain pipe.

"Now listen, they don't know I do this so please North, don't tell anyone this is how I get in, please."

Climbing along the drain pipe and opening his window was how he snuck in and out of his room. If North rats him out, then his life would get a lot more dull. Sneaking in and out was only half of the fun, once he was in or out he was free to do whatever he pleased. Another thing he did was sneak out of his window and climb to the roof of the orphanage where he could stargaze whenever he couldn't sleep. If Ms. Dawdson found out about this, she would put bars on his window. Jack was anxious at what North would say but was surprised when the Russian let out a jolly laugh.

"You are just full of surprises sent you Jack? You should know I'm no tattle tale and this is where you live right? What do you want me to do? Bust you for sneaking into your own home?"

Jack smiled down at North and thanked him.

"But really North, please don't tell anyone that I do this. The curfew here is way too early for me."

"Don't worry my friend, we all have secrets that should not be told."

North smiled back at Jack and watched the boy open a window and climb in. He saw Jack's hand stick out and wave goodnight before the window was pulled down. North couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Jack. Was this really how he got into his home? By sneaking in?

The Russian let out a small chuckle and turned around to his car. Today had been amusing for him seeing Jack pull off his balance act back at Aster's house and now this? With all of the amusement that went on today, North felt like Jack was about to make their lives a lot more fun.

* * *

**A/N: okay so i wont be able to update for the next few days because i go on spring break on friday and ill be away until tuesday**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: IM BACK FROM VACATION AND IT TOTALLY SUCKED. Being gone for four days and spending 3 of them walking around colleges while doing nothing is not something I'm fond of.**

**hey remember when i used to actually update quickly like when i wrote Sleep? i updated that fic maybe every one or two days but those chapters were only about 1-2 thousand words and now the chapters here are ranging from 3-4 thousand words so i guess it would take longer to type ahaha but at least im actually updating right?  
**

Chapter Eleven

"So that's it? We just sit around here and wait it out?"

"What else can we do? Manny hasn't said anything. We don't even know if Jack will-"

"No, Jack _will_ wake up, okay? He just as to..."

Day in and day out it was the same. One of them goes into Jack's room to see if he's awake, and they are only disappointed to find out he's still snoozing. They don't even know what he's dreaming about. They only know that he is; in fact, dreaming because they would see him blush or smile or frown in his sleep. At one point he was even crying but they could do nothing to calm him down.

They were all frustrated. Not only was MiM being unresponsive, but they had no clue what to do. Mother Nature can't bring winter like how Jack does it, his style is more unique than hers but he's not even conscious to do it.

Tooth anxiously hovered above Jack sleeping in his bed. She was just as worried about him as everyone else, and she was worried about what was going on his head . Was he dreaming of his past life? Was he dreaming at all? If he was dreaming, was he enjoying it? Tooth sighed and fluttered back to the rest if the guardians. They were across the room talking while being close to the window on the wall. If MiM did contact them, they weren't going to miss it.

Sandy glanced out the window and gazed upon the full moon shining in the night sky. Being the guardian of dreams, he expected a sign or a message from MiM anytime now. It's been weeks, but Manny could just be running late again.

His waiting time came to an end when a single moonbeam entered gracefully through the window. The four guardians grew silent at seeing the silver light and watched curiously as it swirled around Jack's head.

"Is he finally waking up Sleeping Beauty?" Bunnymund asked hopefully. North shrugged while Tooth and Sandy didn't even acknowledge the question. This could be it, this could be what they've been waiting for.

They shouldn't have gotten their hopes up.

As quickly as it happened, it ended.

The moonbeam faded into nothing after a few seconds of being in contact with the sleeping winter sprite.

"What was that all about?" North asked. They all looked at each other before looking back to Jack who was still snoozing soundly. None of them were expecting voice if MiM to pop into their heads and they were all startled by it.

_Guardians, I apologize for being tardy about being informed about Jackson's condition. However, this provides an opportunity. As you have already seen, I have sent on of my moonbeams down to Earth . To answer your questions, I have entered his mind as well as his dreams._

The guardians perked up. If Manny was in Jack's mind, then he could wake him up!

_His dreams are much more complex than I imagined, but I am curious to see how well he can handle his little adventure that he's created for himself._

All four of them exchanged looks. What t he heck was MiM thinking? Jack already spent over 300 years alone, he's probably already had adventures of his own.

_When the time is right, Jackson will wake up in his own. Until then, Sanderson, I will monitor his dreamt up lifestyle._

The connection between Manny and the guardians ended as Jack rolled over in bed . They all remained silent until Tooth finally spoke up. "So after all this, we still have to wait?"

She did not like this idea at all. She wanted Jack to wake up and have fun like the energetic spirit he is. What she did not want was the Man in the Moon entering Jack's sleeping mind just to observe his dream.

Tooth wasn't the only one who wasn't fond of the plan, they all were.

Sanderson ManSnoozie is the sandman and was supposed to protect the dreams of everyone whether they were a child or a magical being. The Man in the Moon basically hijacked one o f his jobs by watching over Jack in his dreams. Pursing his lips, Sandy wondered what could be so important that Manny would just decide to go into Jack's dream like that. Did he even know why Jack was asleep? If so, why was he being so vague to everyone? This whole predicament seemed pointless to him.

Overall, North hated this plan but his belly was telling him it was right. What if Jack is the only one who can wake himself up? With Manny inside Jack's dream, he can easily convince the boy to wake up.

There were many times when Bunny would disagree with MiM, but somehow that man always knew best. He was like your mother that was always against everything you wanted to do and in the end she was always right.

An example of this was when Manny chose Jack Frost to be the fifth guardian. Bunnymund was completely against the idea of letting Jack Frost become a guardian. He didn't even like the sprite or any of the trouble he caused. However; in the end, Bunnymund was _glad _that it was Jack who became the new guardian. Not only had they defeated Pitch together, but Jack had saved Jamie's belief in them as well. They may not have as many believers as they did before, but they did have the guardian of fun, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

And now MiM just transported himself into Jack's dream. All of them did not approve of Manny's plan the slightest, but maybe it would all work out in the end.

Maybe.

OoOoO

The sun shone brightly through the window in Toothiana's bedroom. It soon found its way to her bed were it flashed upon her closed eyes until they slowly opened. Yawning as she woke up, Tooth smiled as she thought about yesterday.

She had felt like she was walking on air last night. Not only had a newcomer joined their group of friends, but that newcomer happened to be her secret crush. That day, Tooth had seen Jack's pearly whites up close and they even held hands for a few seconds in the hallway.

Then they kissed in the storeroom closet of her high school's cooking class.

That wasn't Tooth's first kiss, but it was by far the most entertaining. She had never thought that she would get covered in flour and smooch Jack Frost at the same time. Even if it was for a few seconds, it had been heaven for her.

Today was Saturday, and they were all supposed to be working at Aster's house again. That meant she would see Jack again, and hopefully her stomach wouldn't be full of butterflies.

It was 8:24am, giving her enough time to get ready for the day. North would be at her house to pick her up in a couple of minutes and then they would go pick up the others.

Tooth got out of her bed and shuffled across her large and messy room. Her living space was basically a jumble of organized messes where she knew exactly where everything was. The desk in the far left corner was covered in folders and binders for school while the shelves held everything from her jewelry box to a container holding all of her baby teeth.

As soon as Tooth saw her reflection in the mirror, she burst out giggling to herself. She had the most ridiculous case of bed head ever! Normally a girl would see her reflection and frown at her insecurities, but Tooth just laughed at how funny her hair looked.

Grabbing a comb, she ran it through her straight, light brown hair. She would have to recolor the streaks later but she wasn't thinking if that as she pulled her hair up into a causal high ponytail. It wasn't that she hated her hair down, but there was less of a chance of it getting in the way if it was held up.

After pulling up her hair, Tooth clipped in a few feathery barrettes and changed out of her nightgown. Walking over to her closet, she pulled out a light neon green long sleeved shirt and a teal tube top. Once she slipped them on, she put on green yoga pants that were dyed blue at the ends where they flared then proceeded to do her makeup and then walk over to the bathroom.

Being a girl fascinated by teeth, Toothiana was always sure to take extra care of her own. She unrolled a piece of dental floss and wound the ends around her fingers. Then she started to floss her teeth making sure to get every angle between them. After throwing away the used floss, Tooth squirted out some toothpaste on her toothbrush and began to clean the insides if her mouth. She made sure to get the front of her teeth, the back, the top row, the bottom row, her gums, and every other nook and cranny in her mouth.

It took her a full two minutes just to brush her teeth before finally spitting out the foam and rinsing her mouth with water. Once she spit the water out, Tooth pulled out a small cup and a bottle if listerine rinse. There was no way that she would let plaque build up on her enamels, so she swirled the rinse around in her cheeks and swished it past her teeth. After she was done, she spit out the rinse and looked in the mirror to see if she missed any spots. To her pleasure, her teeth looked perfect. They weren't as white as Jack's teeth, but they were white enough to satisfy her needs.

By the time Tooth reached the bottom of the steps of her two story house, her mom and younger sisters were already in the kitchen.

"Good morning Toothiana! Did you sleep well last night?"

"Morning mom! And yes, I slept well last night."

Toothiana's mom was in the middle of the kitchen preparing breakfast for all of Tooth's younger siblings. Being the oldest child in the family, Tooth had four younger sisters. Three of them were triplets while the youngest was only three years old. Basically, the Fairie household was full of two women and four little girls. Normally her father would be here, but he's on a business trip and will be gone for a week. Tooth is completely fine with her dad being gone for a while, because her mother is the one who runs the house and it would fall apart without her. Her mother is a retired member of the air force and now she's the busy mother of five daughters that somehow manages to keep everything in order.

As Tooth began to prepare herself a bowl of oatmeal, three of her sisters came in to greet her.

"Hi Tooth!"

"Morning Tooth!"

"Morning!"

Having a set of triplets for younger siblings isn't that bad. Tooth was always able to tell her sisters apart based off of their behavior. It didn't even matter that they all looked the same to everyone else. Just as her younger sisters finished greeting her, Tooth's youngest sister, Tiffany, came into the kitchen.

"Toothie! Toothie!"

"Yes Tiff?"

"Up!"

Tooth smiled and picked up her three year old baby sister. Sophie was only a year older than Tiffany, so they would often be playmates. However, Tiffany isn't going to be attending preschool until next year. Tooth finished making her bowl of oatmeal and sat down at the table with her other sisters as her mother came to the table with a large platter of pancakes made for everyone.

"Alright girls, I made pancakes for everyone. Take as much as you want but don't eat too much, we don't want anyone getting cavities." she said gleefully. The triplets happily took their fair share while Tooth finished her oatmeal and fed little Tiffany her breakfast.

By the time they had all finished breakfast; Tooth went back to the bathroom to floss again and then went to pack what she'd need into her purse. She packed her iPod with its turquoise case that had a golden diamond design on the front, her ear buds, a small energy bar just in case she got hungry, and a roll of dental floss. It's always good to floss after every meal, and Tooth has been doing that every day since she was old enough to walk.

It was 9am by the time North pulled up in front of Tooth's massive house. He beeped the horn a few times and Tooth put on her shoes before running out the door.

"By Mom! I'm going to Aster's."

"Wait sweetie, can i ask you something?"

"Sure Mom. What is it?"

"Tomorrow on Sunday I have to take the triplets to ballet and then attend a parent conference with their teacher. I was wondering if you could watch Tiffany for me."

"Well, I'll be at Aster's house working."

"Exactly. I think she'd prefer to play with Sophie rather than sitting in a dance studio all day with nothing to do."

"Okay I think it'd be fine if I took her along with me."

"Thank you Tooth. Now take care and don't come back too late."

"I won't."

"Do you have your house key?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good. Now have fun."

"I will."

Tooth waved goodbye to her mom and ran across her front porch before running down the driveway. She opened the door to North's car and climbed in without hesitation. "Morning Tooth," he said cheerfully. "Are you ready for today?"

"I certainly am! Are we going to go pick up Sandy now?"

"Yeah, I bet he's probably still asleep."

"And then we go pick up Jack?"

North hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Yes, then we go get Jack."

North hadn't told anyone Jack's little secret about being and orphan yet, maybe he should just show them? They'd figure it out if they saw where Jack lived and pulling up to the orphanage would be much easier than telling them verbally.

/

They were both right about Sandy, he _was _still asleep in bed when they reached his house. His parents welcomed them in so that they could wake up their son and now Sandy was sleepily walking to North's car. He lazily climbed in with Tooth and went back to sleep in his seat while North recklessly drove through the neighborhood. It was 9:17 by the time they reached the neighborhood where Jack lived.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yes, North?"

"Does Jack even know what we're doing today?"

"I think I told him yesterday when he came to Aster's house."

"I don't think he was paying attention."

"In that case, I don't even think he's aware that we're meeting today or on Sunday…"

"Why don't you call him and tell him?"

"He doesn't have a cell phone."

"Really? But he's a high school senior."

"Well he just doesn't have one. I bet he'll be surprised when we come to his house. I wonder if his parents will let him come."

North's grip on his steering tensed up. Toothiana was sure in for a surprise when they reached the orphanage. They were getting close to where Jack was and Tooth looked around.

"Oh I knew he lived in this neighborhood! I never thought that he lived so close to where my neighborhood is, but look at all the small houses! He even lives near the orphanage how cute. I bet he sees the smaller kids that live there a lot."

"Well…"

"So what house does he live in?"

North pulled in front of the orphanage and got out of the car with Tooth. Sandy would be fine sleeping in the car, he's done it countless of times before for years.

"So what house is he in?"

"Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"I think you should just follow me and see for you self."

"Okay!"

Over the years, Tooth had grown very interested in knowing what kind of house Jack lived in. Not that she was a creepy stalker, but because she would always see him at the bus stop whenever she and Aster took the bus. Now that Jack was one of her friends, she preferred to know where he lives just in case she had to visit him.

Tooth followed North and a small gasp escaped her when she realized they were walking up to the orphanage. She was both surprised and a bit sorrowful. In all her years of attending the same high school with Jack, she had never expected him to be and orphan. Maybe it was because she never actually talked to him until now.

She really should have expected this though. Whenever it would get close to Mother's Day or Father's Day, she would often see Jack with his head down on a desk or lashing out at someone for no reason. Usually it would be those kids bragging about what they got for their parents and how much they love them. At first she just thought he was being cranky and not getting enough sleep, but she would never go up to him and ask him what was wrong. Now she wished that she had talked to him.

The more she thought about it, the more remorseful she felt. Every Christmas there was a donation box in town where people would drop off presents for the kids at the orphanage. North would usually drop off a whole bag full of wonderful gifts in the box, but did Jack even receive anything at all? He was seventeen years old, one year from being a legal young adult, and most of the presents North had made were for children.

"So, Jack lives at the orphanage?"

"Yes, he showed me last night when I went to drop him off after you left. I don't think he minds though, he's full of surprises and I wouldn't be startled if he showed us one more surprise about himself."

"Oh."

The two teens walked up the pathway leading to the twin front doors of the orphanage's entrance. North knocked on the door twice before standing back to wait for a response. They heard footsteps getting closer to the door and it was swung open revealing a young girl who was most likely one of the orphans who lived there. "Hello?" she asked them. The girl was about the same size as Sandy and had caliginous black hair pulled into a bushy ponytail while her bangs were parted to the left and hung over her glasses. Her eyes were a dark brown and almost looked black while she was just wearing simple pajamas.

"Yes, hello. You can call me North and this is Tooth. We are from the high school and we are looking for one of our friends here. He-"

"Are you lost?"

"No, I just said we are looking for one of our friends here. His name is Jack Frost. Do you know him?"

"Who?"

"Jack Frost. He lives here as one of the orphans."

"Who the heck is Jack Frost?"

North and Tooth exchanged glances before Tooth decided to take over the conversation for North. She walked up to the girl and started talking.

"We're looking for our friend, Jack. He's about an inch taller than me with really pale skin and bright blue eyes. His teeth look really great and he's pretty lanky."

"I don't think I know him."

"His hair is white and-"

"Oh you mean Snow White!"

"Excuse me?"

"Snow White! That guy with white hair and lives in the attic."

"He what?"

"He lives in the attic. That's where his room is."

The girl welcomed them in and motioned for them to follow her. Tooth and North walked inside while holding a little conversation of their own.

"North! You didn't tell me that Jack lived in the attic of this place!"

"I thought he had a regular room!"

As they followed the girl, both of them looked around the orphanage. It seemed like a nice place with tons of kids of all ages smiling and laughing and having fun together. None of them seemed to be as old as Jack, but they all looked like they were enjoying themselves. "Now listen, Snow White is on the third floor of this place and the door to his room is on the ceiling." continued the girl.

"Why do you call him that?" Tooth asked. "Are you his friend?"

"Heck no. That guy is weird."

"Then why do you-"

"We all call him Snow White."

"But his name is Jack."

"It is?"

"Yeah, didn't you know?"

"No, we call him Snow White because of his stupid hair. He's been here for a long time, so all of the new kids are told of it, Did you know that he's never had anyone adopt him before? I don't blame them, he causes a lot of trouble around here. Ms. Dawdson doesn't even like him."

The girl quickly ran off and abandoned Tooth and North in the hallway. Both of them were having second thoughts of Jack having a nice stay here. He lives in the attic and everyone has named him after a princess, no wonder he doesn't have much friends if they all thought his appearance was stupid. If Aster was with them, he would have teased Jack to no end about his silly nickname but thankfully he was still at his own home. Jack had never mentioned his little nickname, so they assumed he didn't like it.

North and Tooth continued to walk through the orphanage until they reached the third floor. That girl had said that Jack's room is in the attic and that the door is on the ceiling. They looked up to see a small door with a chord hanging down which Tooth promptly pulled down. As the door was pulled down, a rickety ladder was folded out that didn't look even close to stable. Both of them stared at the ladder for a few seconds before North tapped it and then sighed. "I don't think this will hold me." he said. "Why don't you go up and get Jack and I'll wait here."

Tooth nodded to her friend and placed her hand on the wooden ladder. She was anxious as she climbed up because it felt like it would cave in on her at any second. How does Jack even manage going up and down this? It's probably easier for him since he's as light as a feather and most likely weighs less than Tooth.

Once she reached the top, she poked her head in and climbed into the attic. There were dozens of stacks of dusty boxes harboring antiques as well as household decorations covered in bed sheets. This just looked like an ordinary attic. Maybe that girl was lying to them? Tooth didn't believe that anyone could live here.

She began to tiptoe through the attic and turned a corner near a stack of boxes looking for any sign of Jack. When she reached the back of the attic, it began to look more like it was capable of being a bedroom. There was one single window in the center and a small wooden dresser pushed to the side of the wall while a blue pullover hoodie was sprawled out on the floor. Sitting next to the dresser was a pair of tattered blue converse shoes that belonged to Jack who was sleeping in a bed opposite to the shoes.

Tooth quietly made her way over to Jack's bed and looked at his sleeping form. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, and she almost didn't want to wake him up. He wasn't even wearing pajamas; he was just wearing the pants he wore yesterday with a thin white undershirt. His chest was rising up and down with every breath he took while the sun was shining through the window and covering his body. He actually looked like a sleeping angel to Tooth.

/

"Wow! You guys collect teeth and leave behind gifts fast!"

All of their shoulders drooped as they cringed.

"You guys _have_ been leaving behind gifts, right?"

None of them wanted to answer Tooth, since they hadn't been leaving behind _any_ gifts at all. They were too caught up in their competition to pay attention. The four of them would just take a tooth from under a pillow (or from each other) and flee to the next house before anyone else could. Besides, it's not like they carry around hundreds of quarters in their pockets. Some of them didn't even have money _or_ pockets.

Tooth sighed and told them that they had to go back to every house and place a gift under every child's pillow before she flew off to collect more teeth by herself. She didn't have time to deal with them when every second she could be losing believers.

"Well that certainly went well." Jack sarcastically stated. "Any of you guys have an idea on how we're supposed to get a bunch of quarters?"

He leaned on his staff waiting for a response from the guardians but North and Bunnymund just shrugged. They didn't know what to do when image of a light bulb popped up over Sandy's head. "What is it Sandy?" North asked him. The small golden man pointed across the street to a local laundry mat that had a coin machine inside. All four of them exchanged glances before leaping down to the building.

It may not be their best idea, but what else could they do? Sandy formed a key from his dream sand and unlocked the door while everyone else slipped inside. That was when they realized that they had no dollars to put in the coin machine. "I think you should have thought this through more, Sandy." Bunny said to him as he crossed his arms.

Jack turned around to see a cash register sitting alone on a desk and smirked to himself. This place wouldn't miss a few dollars, right? After all, they would be used for a good cause.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: okay i dont know what to put here except that wow i am so tired  
**

Chapter Twelve

His dream suddenly ended when he heard the floorboards in his room squeak. He was both anguished and disheartened that his dream had ended so abruptly. It had just started to get good too. Too tired to yell at the intruder in his room to get out, Jack kept his eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep. As he tried to return to his slumber, his mind was distracted by the creaking floorboards that sounded whenever the person with him would walk around. Maybe if he pretended to be dead they'd go away.

He was exhausted from yesterday and barely got any sleep. Even though he had reached the orphanage around 11pm, he didn't fall asleep until it was past midnight. For some reason he just couldn't sleep as if something was messing with his head and giving him insomnia. At least he wasn't feeling that sore from yesterday. He had been so clumsy on Friday, and he was supposed to be sleeping in today while doing nothing. Why would someone even come into his room so early in the morning anyway?

Jack could hear the quiet breaths of whoever it was that was in his room and it sounded like they were very close to his bed. He didn't ask for this. It was true that a little more attention at the orphanage wouldn't hurt, but he didn't want some random person to walk into his room while he was asleep.

Having enough of this unknown stranger breathing too loudly too close to him, Jack peaked through his eyes to see who it was. His eyes opened to see the image if Toothiana Fairie looming over him. As soon as he saw her, Jack let out a small yell and his grip around his bed sheets tightened.

"Tooth?! What the hell are you doing in my room?! Have you been watching me while I slept for this whole time?"

He was wide awake now. His heart had skipped a beat while Tooth was equally as surprised at his outburst.

"Jack, wait! Okay, I'm so sorry for just coming in unannounced but I came to tell you about our meeting today. Now I know that you don't have a cell phone and you probably weren't paying attention yesterday, but I thought that you'd be awake by now!"

"So you thought it'd be okay to just come into my room while I was sleeping? Ever heard of knocking?"

"Well I-"

"Wait, never mind that. How did you even get in here?"

"When North and I came here to-"

"North is here too?"

"He's waiting for us right now."

Jack groaned and rubbed his eyes. This is _not_ how his Saturday was supposed to be going at all.

"Listen Jack, I'm really really sorry about all of this."

"So how did you get in here?"

"One of the girls here directed me and North. I never caught her name, but I think she said something about calling you Snow White?"

"What did she look like?"

"She was short with glasses and had black hair pulled in a ponytail."

Jack paused for a second to think about who that was. There were tons of kids who still called him Snow White.

"I think that may have been this girl called Cassidy. She's not that delightful."

"Was it her?"

"It sounds like her."

"Jack,"

"What is it now?"

"How come you never told us?"

"About what?"

"About all this!"

Tooth motioned to the attic around them as well as the boxes piled up.

"What do you mean?"

"About your whole...situation."

"Oh uh, it never crossed my mind. I just became friends with you guys yesterday, we're just friends right now. We're not best friends that tell each other secrets as if we've known each other for our whole lives."

Just because he may or may not have a crush on Tooth didn't mean that he had to tell her his whole back story about his parents decided to start a new family without him.

"Listen Tooth, you're not going to tell Aster about my stupid nickname here are you?"

"Don't worry Jack, I won't tell Aster."

"Okay, thanks. I have enough people calling me Snow White."

"Why don't you tell them to stop?"

"Why don't you tell someone who just stole your purse to stop? You see Tooth, I _do_ tell them to stop but they're just kids."

He was still feeling hostile that Tooth had just barged into his room and watched him sleep for a few minutes, but for some reason he just couldn't stay mad at her. As much as Jack wanted to yell, he couldn't do it. Not at her.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to feel all apologetic for me. My life is not as pitiful as you think. I mean, sure I live in an attic and everyone calls me the name of a Disney princess, but I'm perfectly fine. I have a nice window and a nice life here on my own."

"But Jack, at school-"

"The high school we go to is full of people who I have no desire to talk to. You and your friends aren't those people, but the kids at school would not make good friends for me."

It was too early to be having this kind of talk, especially with Tooth while they were in his room at the orphanage.

"You know what? Let's just move past all of this to something else. For example, you were saying something about a meeting today?"

Jack wasn't too interested in the topic, but that didn't mean he hated it. He spent all day with Tooth and everyone else and working on the eggs wasn't that bad. It was actually a little enjoyable if North and Aster hadn't been arguing about colors for ten hours.

Tooth was still guilty about coming in so suddenly and giving Jack a heart attack, but Jack looked so nice while he was sleeping. "As I was saying," she continued. "we have meetings at Aster's house today and tomorrow. We're supposed to be there soon and we should probably get going right now if we don't want to be late. There is so much that we still have to do today."

"I don't know about today Tooth. I'm really comfortable in my bed right here and-"

"Jack you may not know this, but we do need you with us. For the first time ever we have more than four people working. Besides, we don't want Aster to start calling you Snow White do we?"

"Toothiana Fairie, are you black mailing me?" he said in a playful tone.

Obviously Tooth meant business, and Jack couldn't help but like her little method to get him to come. Even though she was probably just joking, Jack thought it was naughty of her to do that, and he kinda liked it. Not that he liked her in that way, or was he starting to? His opinions on his feelings were as complicated as a geometry honors test.

"Don't be silly Jack! It was just some teasing,"

Tooth playfully elbowed Jack in the stomach and he beamed at her. If they weren't so clueless, they would have realized that they were partly flirting with each other.

"now hurry up and get ready. We have a long day ahead of us."

"And if I don't decide to come?"

"Then North might stuff you in a sack and throw you into his car."

Both of them chuckled at Tooth's epigrammatic statement and Jack rolled out of his bed. Tooth looked up at him and placed a hand over her mouth to hide her smile of amusement. "What?" asked Jack. He had no clue to why Tooth looked as if she was trying not to laugh. "Your bed head." she replied. The white hair on Jack's head was lopsided as one half was vertically sticking up while the other half was flat. "But don't worry Jack," she continued. "It can easily be fixed."

Hearing those words, Jack rapidly ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix his problem.

"Is it gone?"

"Not quite. Here, I'll fix it."

Tooth walked over to Jack and started to groom his head. His hair was so soft, just like the snow outside. It was the same color too and no wonder the kids here called him Snow White all the time. His skin wasn't the tannest either. In fact, he could easily be mistaken for a ghost if his clothes were all white.

Jack stood there while Tooth fondled with the follicles on his head. He felt like a puppy being patted on the head by a passerby. Is it really taking Tooth this long to fix his bed head? Maybe she fixed his hair a long time ago and now she's just playing with it. As long as her hands were clean, he didn't mind Tooth's nimble fingers running through his hair. In fact, he kind of liked the attention.

"Wow Jack, have you've ever combed your hair once? It's such a mess!"

Jack disregarded that remark. He never had time to do something like comb his hair and its not like he has a mother to tell him to. It wasn't until two whole minutes had passed when Tooth was finally accomplished with her mission. She took a step back and admired her work knowing that she had solved Jack's terrible and extremely comical case of bed head. "Are you ready to go now?" she asked him. "You can go eat breakfast first if you want."

"I'm not really that hungry."

"Are you sure? You're so thin and all."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now lets go."

Jack bounded over across the attic to the hole in the floor that was the exit. He was about to climb down the ladder when the sound of Tooth clearing her throat could be heard. The boy looked up to see Tooth looking at him.

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh right, thanks for fixing my bed head."

"No, not that."

"Then what?"

"Your shoes!"

The white haired teen stared down and realized that he had been barefoot the entire time. He had hardly even noticed since he was always barefoot whenever he was inside the orphanage. Rolling his eyes, Jack walked backed over and put on his shoes. He was never a fan of wearing_ anything_ on his feet, not even socks or sandals. Whenever he wore socks indoors, he would always slip around as if he was walking on butter. Sandals and flip flops would only slow him down and the only thing shoes did were make his feet sweaty. Jack would rather prefer to be barefoot all the time but that wasn't happening anytime soon not matter how much he wished it.

Tooth and Jack had both descended down the ladder one at a time where they were reunited with North. The Russian had been waiting for them the entire time and was glad to see that they had finally arrived.

"Ah, Jack! Good to see you again!" he loudly boasted as he patted the boy on the back. To North it was a light gesture, but to the scrawny teenager he was touching it nearly knocked him off his balance. Jack thought North was okay, but the large Russian had such a heavy hand.

After having the wind knocked out if him by North, Jack followed them. "Is he always this happy in the mornings?" he asked Tooth while they trailed behind. The girl nodded to him and said something about she and North being morning people while Aster and Sandy were the exact opposite. By the time they reached the first floor, Tooth realized something.

"Oh! Jack shouldn't you tell someone where you're going?"

"Why?"

"So that they know where you are!"

"They don't care. They barely pay attention to me anyways."

Tooth crosses her arms and purses her lips at Jack. Telling the caretaker where he would be going would be the responsible thing to do.

"Oh come on Tooth, don't give me that look. I've walked out of here without saying goodbye thousands of times. One more isn't any different."

Tooth didn't budge and now North was standing behind her.

"Seriously Tooth, the only time they would notice me would be if I started a snowstorm in the kitchen or something bizarre like that. What about you, North?"

"I'm with Tooth on this one. Just because you've left without goodbyes before doesn't mean you can do it again today."

"Oh come on you guys."

After a heated debate, Jack threw his arms up in defeat and marched himself trudging down to Ms. Dawdson's office.

This whole idea seemed so pointless to him a huge waste of time. That middle aged woman didn't even like him, and she's probably going to act cranky as soon as she opens the door. Ms. Dawdson never liked Jack, even when he was a child he had always made her life difficult. Now that he was turning eighteen in two weeks, there were other bratty hellions to take his place. Being the only caretaker for the Burgess Orphanage full of screaming children, Ms. Dawdson often found herself overwhelmed or stressed out. The only time she smiled was when a child was adopted or when the orphans were in bed.

Jack sighed as he reached the door. Tooth and North were waiting by the front door while their friend was on the other side of the building. Looking at the old ebony door to the caretaker's office, Jack sighed and knocked. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he waited for Ms. Dawdson to pop out and yell at him. She may not even be in her office. Standing outside the door, Jack thought about turning around a leaving so that he wouldn't have to put up with this. He was very talented when it came to lying, he can just tell a fib about giving the caretaker a heads up about how he'll be gone for most of the day.

He had made his decision and was about to leave when the door behind him clicked open.

So much for lying.

Taking a deep breathe and preparing for the worst, Jack turned around. There was a feeling in the bottom of his stomach that was screaming at him to prepare himself to be scolded at as he began to greet the caretaker. "Hey Ms. Dawdson, I-"

Jack stopped mid sentence at seeing who was standing in the doorway. This person wasn't the old bat they called their caretaker, it was a man.

Whoever this mystery man was, he was short and stout. He couldn't be anything taller than Tooth not that she was short, but she was a teenager. This man looked like he was in his early forties at least. His head was shiny with no hair at all while his pair of beady eyes rested above his flat nose and thin lips. A tan trench coat that reached his ankles was on the outside of his small body while tan slacks, a beige vest, a white collared shirt underneath, and a bright red bow tie made up the rest of his wardrobe. His shoes were shiny and the cuff links on his sleeves looked as if they resembled the moon.

Jack stared at the stranger speechless no knowing what to say. "Uh, listen, I'm here to say something to Ms. Dawdson, the caretaker, but it doesn't look like she's here now. I'll just go." he shyly said to the man. The man in front of him gave him a warm smile that made Jack feel slightly uncomfortable and replied to him.

"It's about time Jackson,"

"What? Who are you?"

"You mean you don't recognize me? Well, I supposed you wouldn't either way."

The man chuckled to himself while Jack gazed at him in baffled. There was something about this man that seemed familiar, and he looked way too friendly.

"So, you know who I am?"

"Of course, you are Jackson Frost, and you are quite the troublemaker from what I've read."

"What?"

"You're file here, it is utterly amusing."

Jack was still bewildered about who this man was and why he was looking through the files at the orphanages. he was actually a little scared knowing that this stranger who may or may not be a pedophile was reading all about him

"Okay random stranger whose read my file, if you see Ms. Dawdson, tell her I stepped out with a few friends. By the way, when I mean friends I mean actual friends and not gang members."

"My dear boy, weren't you informed?"

"No, no one here tells me anything. The whole place could burn down and no one would tell me. They'd probably blame me or something stupid like that."

"I see, step inside my office will you?"

"Your office?"

"Come now, quickly."

Despite how perplexed Jack was, his curiosity ceased him and he followed the man into the office. The man happily welcomed him in and shut the door before sitting behind the desk in front of Jack who took a seat.

"Now tell me Jackson, what do you know?"

"Know about what?"

"About your surroundings, your life."

"Well, my parents left me and I'm turning eighteen in two weeks."

"What else?"

"Wait, why should I tell you about myself? I don't even know your name. You're just this random man who read my file. You could be some stalker for all I know."

"Pardon me, but you should already know who I am. You've heard my voice before."

"I have?"

Now that he thought about it, the voice of the man sitting in front of him did sound familiar. In his dreams, the moon talked to him once and that was just to tell him his name. The voice that the moon used is the same voice that this man has. It was official, Jack was mental. His dreams used to be entertaining but now they were just creepy to him about how real they were.

Jack sat in his seat trying to decide if he should call the man Mr. Moon or something related to his dreams. This man couldn't be the Man in the Moon, that would be too asinine. His dreams were nothing but pure fiction and it was only a mere coincidence that they were somehow related to his real life.

"Um,"

"Do you need me to tell you what you already know?"

"Yes,"

"Very well, you may call me Mr. Moon. I am the new caretaker of this orphanage."

"What? Since when?"

"Since last night. I believe you were asleep when I came. The old caretaker, Ms. Dawdson, has retired."

Mr. Moon leaned back in his chair feeling pleased with himself. He had to give Jack credit over how elaborate this dream was. Not only had he made up a new life for himself, but for the guardians as well. There were times when Jack Frost could be so impressive even if he didn't know it.

"Now tell me Jackson, what do you know about legends?"

"What?"

"Legends, like Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny."

"I know that they're not real. I also know that you ask _a lot_ of questions."

"So what do you remember?"

"About what?"

"I see…"

"What?"

He thought that Jack was aware of his current status, but he was wrong. It appears that Jack has himself fooled about everything in his life. He doesn't even know what is actually happening. The player had become a pawn in his own game.

"I suppose when the time is right, I shall tell you."

"Tell me what? What are you talking about? The only thing you've been doing is asking me these pointless questions about the most random things! I have plans you know, and I have people waiting for me."

Overall, he was frustrated at Mr. Moon. He had places to be and people to see but instead he was sitting in a chair being ridiculed by this strange man who acted like he knew something important.

"Now listen Mr. Moon, I really have no desire to be here anymore. No offense, but I'm on a tight schedule and I'll be going right now."

"But before you go Jack, may I ask you one more question?"

"About what?"

"Your dreams."

That peaked his interest. Jack leaned in closer to listen to Mr. Moon.

"What do you know about my dreams?"

"I know that they've been reoccurring and that you have no idea why. You've never told anyone about them, and it seems that you are confused. You have no idea why they seem so real, and you have no idea why they are so accurate to your life."

Jack immediately sprang up from his seat.

"How did you know that?"

He was anxious now. He had never told a living soul about his dreams ever or about how he's felt about them. Who was this man? Was Mr. Moon even his real name?

"Your reaction to what I have said provides all of the proof I need. You are so curious to why you have these dreams every few nights but you are too afraid of looking mental to tell anyone."

Jack walked over to Mr. Moon's desk and picked up the telephone.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling the cops. I don't think you're who you say your are and I don't think you should even be here."

"But Jackson, if you inform the authorities you will never know."

"Never know what?"

"The reason behind your dreams."

Jack hung up the phone. The room was dead silent as Jack stared at Mr. Moon. Who did this guy think he was?

"Let me get this straight, you know about my dreams and what's causing them? But you've just met me!"

"You only believe what you want to. Furthermore, it is not the time for me to tell you yet. There is still so much that you still have to do in your young life."

"Who are you?'

"I already told you, I am Mr. Moon."

There was something about this man that scared Jack, but he was also interested in him as well. Not interested as in attracted to him, he was interested in Mr. Moon as in wanting to know more about him. He felt like this man had been watching him for some time now and the whole thing startled him. Jack slowly shuffled out of the office not knowing what else to say to Mr. Moon and he left the man sitting in his office.

He had never been so freaked out in his life.

Everything that Mr. Moon said sounded honest, so what exactly did this man know?

Mr. Moon had said something about revealing the reason behind his dreams when the right time came, when would that be? How did he know about his dreams anyway? Everything Mr. Moon said about remembering something only frustrated Jack more. What was he supposed to remember?

Taking deep breaths, Jack attempted to calm himself down. He shouldn't listen to Mr. Moon; that man was probably off his rocker. They just met today, so they were basically half strangers and half acquaintances.

Jack finally walked to the front door where Tooth and North were waiting for him. He was relieved to see them, because they were his friends. "Finally! What took you so long, Jack?" North questioned.

"Oh you know, just some stuff popped up. Nothing to worry about it's all taken care of. I told the caretaker I'll be with you guys for the day."

"Great! Now let's go!"

Both Tooth and North walked out the door with Jack. None of them had realized how pale Jack had gotten, as if something _had _happened back there.

"So Jack, did you eat breakfast?" continued North as they walked down the pathway.

"No, I'm not hungry."

"Really? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You must eat something. I have some cookies in the car that you can eat on the way to Aster's house."

That was when Tooth cut into the conversation.

"North! Jack can' have cookies for breakfast!"

She hated the idea of Jack, the boy with perfect teeth, eating something as sugary as cookies so early in the morning for breakfast.

"What's wrong with him eating cookies?"

"He can't just have all that sugar for his breakfast! He might as well drink a gallon of lemonade with it."

"What's wrong with lemonade?"

"Lemon juice is extremely acidic and can leech the calcium from your teeth which is irreversible. It can erode away your enamel leaving your teeth sensitive to everything! Lemons can even decay your gums and teeth and I don't want anyone to be rotting their teeth from the inside out while I'm around. I bet you two didn't even know that there is more enamel-eroding sugar in a single lemon than a two liter bottle of coca cola."

"No, I didn't know that."

Jack didn't know that either. Well wasn't that just great. Not only had he met this strange man called Mr. Moon who happened to be the new caretaker, but now he discovered that he could never drink lemonade again.

They had all stopped talking by the time they reached North's car. Now that he could have a direct look at it under the light provided by the morning sun, Jack was amazed at how the red van appeared. It was too dark last night to see how it looked under the moon but now Jack loved it as much as everyone else. Peering inside, he saw that Sandy was asleep in the back seat. At least the golden haired teen could sleep in today since he wasn't suddenly awoken when the girl he may or may not have a crush on walked into his room and watched him sleep.

"So you guys let Sandy sleep,"

"Well he was the second to be picked up. It's not his fault that you're the last passenger to arrive."

Jack rolled his eyes and climbed into the front seat of the van. North was behind the wheel and Tooth was in the back with Sandy. Maybe he could catch up on sleeping on the care ride over but Jack was almost afraid to sleep. What if his dreams were a bad thing? What if they provided a warning as if they were some sort of omen?

He should really stop getting so paranoid.

North turned his key and the engine roared to life. He held up a plastic bag that was pulled out of the glove compartment and offered it to Jack.

"Are you sure you don't want any cookies, Jack?"

Jack looked into the bag of Christmas cookies and saw how stale they looked. One of them looked half eaten while the others looked like they were made by someone with a mental disorder. Was that frosting or toothpaste? Whatever was coating the sugary confections, Jack didn't want any of it in his system.

"No thanks."

"Alright, suit yourself."

North held a cookie in his mouth as he back out and soon he launched down the road.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: so you guys know how i write my fanfictions in notebooks and then type them up? well, today i opened up my notebook and a centipede crawled out of my book and it was very startling  
**

Chapter Thirteen

Loud and obnoxious Russian rock music was blasting from the radio as North recklessly drove down the street. Jack could swear that they had almost hit somebody's cat but North wasn't paying attention. The Russian was just humming along to the music while occasionally tapping the steering wheel to whatever tune was playing. Last night the ride home wasn't too bad, but it was like an amusement park during the day. Even with his seat belt strapping him in Jack was still jostled around. Looking behind him, Jack saw Sandy looking out the window not noticing the rough ride while Tooth was listening to her iPod with her hands tapping in her lap. She must be listening to a catchy song if it could drown out North's music.

Jack turned back around in his seat realizing that he probably should have sat in the back. There was much less room in the back, meaning that there were less spaces for Jack's light body to be shoved into.

The drive to Aster's house was only fifteen minutes, and Jack happily climbed out of the van. It was comfortable on the inside, but it was the method the driver used to steer the vehicle that Jack would have to get used to.

Aster was outside in his front yard with Sophie who was playing around in whatever snow that was left on the ground and he perked up when he noticed his friends had finally arrived.

"It's about time you lot showed up." Aster said to them. "Do you know how long I've been waiting out here for you?"

"Sorry about that Aster. Jack had a slow rising this morning." Tooth said as her bright eyes darted to Jack with a smile. Jack responded by making a face at her which only made Tooth giggle to herself.

Now that they were all gathered, the group of five teens along with one four year old entered the Bunnymund household so that they could get to work.

/

It had taken the entire morning, but they had completed in casting 200 eggs for Easter. Sophie had been there too, but she didn't do much to help out with production. She mostly just watched in curiosity as her older brother and everyone else poured resin into the molds. However, she didn't get too close to Tooth. When the females had first met, Tooth had tried too hard to please Sophie and came off as seeming creepy instead of fun to the toddler.

Even though he had spent his entire Saturday morning in the basement of Aster's house doing nothing but making eggs, the day wasn't_ that _bad. Despite having Tooth watch him while he slept and being completely baffled by Mr. Moon who was a very suspicious man, Jack's day was going pretty well according to him. He had played with Sophie for a bit while they worked by saying he was going to use the bathroom but instead snuck outside to play in the snow with the child while everyone thought he really was in the bathroom.

The two of them had had a heap of fun until Aster told them to get back inside. After he had been caught, he wasn't aloud to go to the bathroom anymore with all of them knowing he may just slip away again. It wasn't that they didn't like Jack playing with Sophie outside, but he really had to focus.

Since the eggs were done being casted, they were just waiting for them to dry while also making sure that they were drying properly. Everyone was doing their own separate thing in the basement. Aster was looking over the eggs; Tooth was on her iPod, North was snacking on some cookies that he had brought, and Sandy was sitting at a table molding a few prizes to stuff the eggs with. Jack wasn't sure what he should be doing, but seeing Sandy sculpting with the clay caught his attention.

Sandy looked up when he heard the sound of Jack's footsteps as he approached. The smaller teen waved at Jack who waved back. Looking over what Sandy had been doing, Jack saw that he had already created animal charms out of clay that you would bake in an oven to harden. "Wow Sandy, these look amazing!" he complimented his friend while leaning in to marvel at each exquisite creation.

Sandy mouthed a casual "thank you" before going back to work. He was currently making a small dinosaur to add to the collection and Jack watched him with amusement. In the past hours, Sandy had already made two airplanes, a unicorn, five manta rays, and six flowers. Since the shape of the eggs that they were making were much larger than store bought Easter eggs, he was able to make the prizes medium sized so that they wouldn't be choking hazards for any young children.

Picking up his notepad, Sandy scribbled down a message for Jack.

_Would you like to try Jack?_

Jack stared at the message and blinked.

"Well, I've never actually worked with clay before, not even in elementary school but I guess I could give it a shot. I mean, I can't be that bad, right?"

Sitting down next to Sandy, Jack took a lump of clay and decided that he would make a bunny rabbit for Easter. He made a crude silhouette of a rabbit before going back to finalize any details. Jack wasn't that interested in the artistic hobbies such as painting or drawing, he was more interested in being outside and causing mischief while being active. Sandy looked over his shoulder and saw his friend struggling to make a rabbit. After receiving a few pointers on craftsmanship from Sandy, the product of Jack's attempt to sculpt a bunny was actually looking pretty decent. He even carved tiny details into the face and body to make it look more realistic.

North looked over to where Jack and Sandy were sitting and saw that they were working with the clay and having a good time without him. Walking over to join his friends, North looked over what was on the table. "Sandy why didn't you tell me you had already started with the clay?" he asked. Every year for Easter North and Sandy were in charge of molding small trinkets for the kids. Aster would usually be the main painter and Tooth was the master planner accounting how organized she was in school.

Picking up the clay bunny on the table, North admired it.

"Wow Sandy, this one is pretty good! It's just like your other creations."

Sandy shook his head and pointed to Jack. He then indicated that Jack was the one to make it, not him.

"Really? Jack made this? Well, I couldn't even tell! The craftsmanship looks like it could be yours Sandy."

Jack's face contorted into a look of delight. Knowing that something he had made for the first time was mistaken for something made by someone as gifted as Sandy would make was a major compliment.

"Jack, why didn't you tell us you were as good as Sandy? You can help us make the prizes this year while Aster and Tooth paint them."

"Well to be honest, I've never actually done this sort of thing before."

"No need to be modest! You have some talent right here!"

North put Jack's clay rabbit back down on the table while Jack thanked him for the positive review. It felt splendid to have someone believe that you're good at something, and the praise only made it better. Everyone thought that Jack's only purpose was causing mayhem, but now there were a few people who knew that he was skilled in something else as well.

Tooth looked up from her iPod and looked over to Jack.

"Hey Jack come here! I want to show you something."

"What is it?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out?"

Jack rose from his seat and left North and Sandy to work with the clay. He traveled to the far side of the basement where Tooth was sitting and took a seat next to her.

"What's up?"

"Alright so, I have this app on my iPod that tells you what animal you are. It's this silly little thing, but I think it's rather entertaining to do. We've all done it here just out of curiosity and the ending results are really accurate. When I took it I was a hummingbird, Sandy was a sting ray, Aster was a bunny, and North was a reindeer. I really want to see what animal you are, so do you want to try it?"

"Sure, I'll give it a go."

"Great!"

Tooth pulled up the personality test on her iPod and handed it to Jack who read over the instructions. Even though this test was moderately pointless, the results were always pleasing. In the end it would give you facts about yourself that you never even knew and the test seemed to know exactly what kind of person you are.

"The fun thing about this test is that you'll never know what you'll get. At first I thought I would be some sort of bee because everyone says I'm as busy as a bee the way I buzz around working, but a hummingbird is nice too. It's vibrant and colorful and-"

Jack was tuning out Tooth's babbling as he took the quiz. Usually he wasn't into things like this much, but doing it really seemed too please Tooth. She looked so nice when she was pleased, the way her eyes shone and how her mouth was pulled into a cheerful grin. Jack liked her like that, when she was happy. He couldn't imagine her being sad or disappointed, and he didn't want to. Toothiana was a very sweet girl, and seeing her disappointed or upset would be devastatingly heartbreaking.

The two teens sat together at the table while Jack chose his answers to the questions.

_What is the month and date of you birthday?_

March 30th.

_How old are you?_

Seventeen.

_What is your gender?_

Male.

At first the questions were standard, but then they began to get more detailed.

_What is your favorite season?_

Winter.

_How often do you find yourself alone?_

Frequently.

_When at school, what kind of person are you?_

A loner.

_Do you have any close relationships with anyone?_

Kinda.

_How social are you?_

Not very social, but I have a few friends.

_What do you want to do in life?_

Have fun.

As Jack dived deeper into the test, he noticed how it started to get more and more personal. There were questions about his parents and family, his social status, his emotions, there were even inquiries about his appearance such as height, weight, eye color, and hair color as well as nationality. The interrogations didn't seem to end in Jack's point of view. He would enter in one answer and then move on to the next question and it just seemed like a routine. He must have been focused on Tooth's iPod for ten minutes accounting that he didn't even notice Tooth had left to go help Aster with something.

As he answered the last question, Jack was in full content as he tapped on the submit button. He was as curious as Tooth was about what animal he would be, and he stared at the screen as it processed his answer choices. When his description finally popped up, Jack was elated to see that he was a dolphin. Dolphins were cool, and they had lots of fun in the ocean. It wasn't until the boy had begun to read down the description about himself did his mood change. Tooth said that this test was accurate, but how accurate did she mean?

Just as he was about to leave, Tooth came back to where Jack was and was eager to see his result.

"What did you get, Jack?"

"Oh, I got a dolphin."

"Really? That's so cool!"

"Yeah it is, I'm going to go back over to the other table now."

Jack hastily shot out of his seat and rushed back to the table where he was previous. Tooth stared at him perplexed as to why he felt like he had to depart so soon. Was it something she said? The last thing that she wanted to do was offend Jack, and if she had then she would have to apologize later. That was when she remembered that the test generated descriptions about everyone who completed the test. Jack hadn't informed her about anything else other than being a dolphin. Was he offended by his description? The test was still pulled up on her iPod; one look never hurt anyone, right?

Tooth picked up the device and read over the results Jack had received.

_You are a dolphin!_

_These aquatic mammals tend to be related to enjoyment and the wish to be happy. Not only can they have a strong emotional connection with a certain person, but that is what they may be yearning for all along. Even though you can handle yourself on your own, it is always fun to be in a large group of your own kind whether you know it or not.  
Like a dolphin, there are countless of times where you leap from your boundaries wanting to be noticed by those around you but you have to be different from everyone else to shine on you own. Whenever you leap out of the water, you can be quite dazzling and if someone is there to witness it they will discover how truly amazing you really are!  
However, there are many occasions where you fall back down into the water and your pod seems to have moved on without you. As you stray from others, you tend to become a bit too independent and many barriers can be set up. But even with your own barriers, you should try to break through them and experience more out of life before it slips away from underneath.  
Remember that being alone may not always be the best choice and even though your pod might drift away, that doesn't mean that you're not enabled to shine bright like the star you are!_

Tooth was disheartened by the portrayal of Jack's personality. Jack was an orphan, but what ever happened to his parents? Did they pass away too early or were they forced to abandon him? What about that blurb about becoming too independent and setting up barriers?

All of this was demoralizing. Did Jack really want to have any emotional connections with anyone? She knew that he didn't have that many friends, but had Jack actually spent his entire life with his mind isolated?

If Jack had never had a close friend before, then that would certainly change right now. Tooth could be that person that Jack would have a strong emotional relationship with. Who knows, it may even blossom into something more.

However, this was only a mere personality quiz to analyze the kind of person you are. From the looks of it, this dinky little test knew more about Jack than Tooth and everyone else did…

Sandy was walking past Tooth when he caught a glimpse of her. She looked like she was lost in thought, but what was she thinking about? Wanting to know more, Sandy approached his friend and wrote a message on his notepad.

_What's up?"_

Tooth felt Sandy's presences and looked up to him.

"Well you see Sandy; remember when I made you guys take that little test to find out what animal you are?"

Sandy nodded. He recalled those times when they had all completed that test and they were all intrigued by their spot on results.

"Well, Jack just took the test and this is the depiction of him."

Tooth handed her iPod over to Sandy who read over the test result. It had been nice to find out that Jack was a dolphin, but how the test worded what kind of person he was made it sound depressing.

"You see? It makes him sound so lonely…"

Sandy quickly wrote down an answer for Tooth.

_Just because this pointless generator says something about Jack doesn't mean that it's true. There may be some correct attributes about him listed here but that doesn't mean that they can be changed. Who says that we can't get close to him? Everything that he had experienced in his childhood is in the past, but we can affect his future by not letting him slip away and return to his loneliness._

A smile returned to Tooth's face at reading those words. She hugged Sandy and thanked him.

"Thank you Sandy, you always know what to say."

Sandy returned the favor and patted her on the back returning to his work. He kept an eye on Jack knowing that the pale teenager must be feeling down from reading about himself, and that was when an idea popped into Sandy's head. This was Jack's first Easter with them; why not give him something to remember? Both Tooth and Sandy were experts when it came to keeping secrets, and that provided them with the opportunity to give Jack a surprise.

After rapidly scribbling down his idea, Sandy ran back over to where Tooth was to pitch his idea to her.

_We should give Jack a present for Easter!_

"Oh Sandy that's a great idea! But what would we give him?"

_Something handmade because if we just buy him something with money then it won't be that special unless it's something really expensive._

"Oh! I know what we should do!"

_What?_

"We can make him a photo album! That way when he's down he can look through pictures of all of us together!"

_But we don't even have any picture of us together and we don't have much time to make an entire scrapbook. Easter is in two weeks and we also have school to deal with. But nice try though._

"Oh, you're right. Do you have any ideas on what to do?"

_He seems to like the things that I make out of clay; maybe I can make him a dolphin charm?_

"That would be perfect! And once you make it I can put a silver chain on it so that he can wear it around his neck!"

Both of them were beaming with excitement knowing that their idea was perfect. All they had to do was make a dolphin necklace for Jack by the time Easter rolled around and he would learn that he could get close to them.

"Oi, Sandy! Do you think you can come over here?" Aster called over from across the room. He was standing at the table where Jack and North were working with the clay. Sandy nodded and walked in Aster's direction with his notepad and golden pen in hand. "Alright mate, Tooth wants there to be less candy this year so that means we gotta amp up productions with the little clay prizes." he instructed. "Just make sure that you have enough googies to stuff in the eggs, okay?"

Sandy nodded to Aster while Jack, who was next to Aster the entire time, had overheard Aster's dialogue and was dumbfounded.

"Aster,"

"What?"

"What did you just say?"

"I said what,"

"No, when you were talking to Sandy."

"I said we needed enough googies for the eggs-"

"Yeah, that."

"What?"

"You said googies."

"So?"

"Is that even a real word? Because I don't think anyone says that."

"Well, it's just the way I talk."

"Does everyone from Australia use words like that?"

Aster narrowed his eyes at Jack who was smirking to him. He knows that the little idiot is just trying to bother him now, and it looks like E. Aster Bunnymund has found a new partner to have verbal conflicts with.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: okay so a few of you readers were wondering if the test in the last chapter was a real thing and sadly, it is not. i just made up the whole description thing but i did research and there are some true facts in the description i wrote. but anyway thank you everyone so much for reviewing and it really means a lot to me :)  
**

Chapter Fourteen

They had worked well into the afternoon making "googies" for the eggs and had even put the clay creations in the oven to harden. Jack was feeling proud of himself knowing that today he had contributed and he had already had seven small spats with Aster. Provoking him was hilarious to Jack and it was a fun way to pass the time.

"I can't believe that you've never done stuff like this before Jack! They look like Sandy had made them!"

"Well, Sandy is a good teacher." responded Jack as he ruffled Sandy's hair. Sandy smiled at the gesture and gave Jack a pat on the back.

Tooth was amazed by how well Jack was with the clay and was even more captivated when she found out it was his first time sculpting. Sandy and North had both taken classes in the past and their experience was what caused them to be dexterous with the clay. For Jack, he was just a natural and he wasn't afraid to make mistakes. Instead of feeling discouraged, Jack would only laugh when something didn't come out the way he had wanted it to. His laughter would soon spread to the others and before they knew it, they were all having an ecstatic time together.

"Alright everyone, all of the eggs have dried and now we can start loading them up." Aster said. Jack looked confused again as to what they were even supposed to be doing and he asked North for guidance. "You see Jack," North started. "when we doing these kind of things we make everything at Aster's house and then move everything to the school where we can use the art room to paint."

Jack understood what North had said and nodded. It_ would _be easier to paint all of the eggs and clay figurines and charms in the art room at school rather than Aster's basement. Now Jack didn't know a lot about paints and dyes, but he did know that they could give off fumes. He remembers when the hallways in the orphanage were being repainted and he couldn't walk up to his room without feeling dizzy. For an entire week he got up to his room by climbing the drain pipe instead of going up the stairs.

Besides, if they brought the dyes and paints to Aster's house there's a high chance of Sophie wandering in and getting herself into a colorful mess.

Not knowing what to do, Jack mimicked the actions of everyone else and picked up one of the boxes that dozens of the eggs were stored in. They all continued to make a few trips from North's car outside to Aster's basement down the steps. It only took five minutes for the group of five to store all of the containers holding the two hundred eggs they had made into the back of the van.

All of the eggs were loaded and Jack crawled in the back seat of North's car with Sandy and Tooth while Aster stood outside reluctantly. "What's the matter Kangaroo?" Jack asked the Australian. Aster looked anxious, as if he was terrified of something.

"It's nothing Frosty. I just think that the ride to school would be much better if-"

"Are you scared of the way that North drives?"

"No, I just don't like how he drives like a lunatic."

Aster hated getting in a car if North was behind the wheel. The way that North would almost pass the speed limit and make too many careless sharp turns had always struck fear into Aster's heart.

"Relax Aster, it'll be over before you know it." Jack said in an attempt to console his friend who stepped into the front seat. "But a word of advice, I think it's better to sit in the back."

"What are you-"

Aster was cut off when North opened the door to the drivers seat and yelled, "Buckle up!"

What North had said had caught Aster off guard and he fumbled about in his seat trying to locate the "bloody seat belt". When he finally found it, he immediately strapped in a second before North sped out of the driveway. Jack looked forward and saw Aster tightly clutching onto his seat for dear life as the car shot down the road. "Don't you think you're going a bit fast? We're in a neighborhood, North!" Aster said to the driver.

"Nonsense! There is no such thing as going too fast when there is a time crunch!"

"Can you at least drive like a sane person?!"

Jack decided to cut into the conversation knowing that if he didn't, he'd have to listen to Aster criticize North's poor driving habits.

"By the way Aster, I was always told to never argue with the driver."

"See! Jack has point!"

Aster grumbled something to himself and stayed silent for the rest of the ride.

/

Aster was glad to finally reach the empty high school. As soon as North parked the car, he automatically exited the vehicle without a second thought. Once everyone else had gotten out of the car, they each grabbed a box filled to the brim with eggs and walked into the school building.

There were still some teachers and staff workers at the high school, and they all welcomed the group of notorious teenagers. They didn't even see Jack come in with them but he didn't care.

When they approached the art room they found that the door was already open, so they stepped inside. To their surprise, Pitch Black was already there.

"Pitch? What the heck are you even doing here?" Tooth demanded. They all hated Pitch, and he hated them. Pitch turned to her and walked close as he stared her down.

"My dear Toothiana, don't you know that I'm Mr. Black to students?"

"I'm eighteen years old, a legal adult."

"A legal adult who's still wasting her time with stupid children."

Jack had never seen Tooth so serious or so stern, it was rather unnerving. Meanwhile, a malicious smirk formed on Pitch's face when he looked at the boxes they were holding. "You aren't planning on painting those eggs here, are you?" he asked trying to sound innocent.

"Of course we are." Aster said to the man. "We always do and you should know Pitch, so quite acting dumb."

"Well then, I must inform you that you're out of luck."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't I tell you the memo? Ah well, it must have slipped my mind."

"Spit it out Pitch, what memo?"

"That someone had accidentally misplaced the paints that you were to use."

"What?"

"Didn't you hear me? Your precious paints for your precious little eggs aren't here. They're gone."

Pitch sneered at the group who glared back at him and that's when Pitch noticed Jack in the standing back.

"Is that Jack Frost I see? Well I guess the rumors are true, you _are_ the newest member of these tryhards."

"Pitch, I see that you've gotten a new coat after the bleach incident."

"I see that you've gotten the coffee stain out of your pants."

"So are you still a middle aged single man who bothers a bunch of high school kids in his free time? Because if you do, you should get a cat or something."

While Jack and Pitch were talking, everyone else stared in confusion. What were they even talking about? What did bleach and coffee stains have to do with anything? Whatever it was, it meant that Jack had had past encounters with Pitch.

Pitch took a step closer to Jack as his eerie figure loomed over the boy. He wished that he had some sort of weapon right now, but it's too soon for that.

"Listen Frost, the only reason they're actually talking to you in the first place is because they have to. If you weren't in their clique, you'd still be a sad, lonely little brat. They didn't even care about you before."

"You know what? Why don't you-"

"In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if they all left you out again when this is all over."

As he swallowed hard, Jack moved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie and balled them into fists inside. He could feel his knuckles turning white from his own grip as he tried to keep himself together. What Pitch had said seemed to have struck a nerve with him. Jack wasn't sure if he was angry at Pitch, himself, or if he was angry that what Pitch had said might be true.

"Well Pitch, I guess we'll just have to see about that."

"I wouldn't count on it."

Pitch took one last glance at Jack before brushing past everyone else. He smirked triumphantly as he shut the door behind him leaving the teenagers behind.

Jack stayed where he stood while the others were silent. As much as they hated it, Pitch was right. None of them even talked to Jack before Friday, and they only started acknowledging him when he was officially part of the team. After blinking a few times, Jack spoke to break the silence.

"So, shall we get started?"

"But Jack," North said. "Pitch said that the paints aren't here."

"People lie all the time and did you actually believe him? He probably just hid the paints somewhere in the room."

"Then why would he come to tell us?"

"I dunno, bragging rights? Anyway, we can go look around the room for anything else."

In the past day and a half, Jack has never worked on something so hard in his entire life. Not even when he made a birthday card for his mom when he was four. It wasn't the most original idea, but his mother would have liked it if he hadn't spilled an entire bottle of white paint on the carpet. That was just one big disaster, but times were different now. Jack was now part of the team with his new found friends and he liked it, even if their whole fiasco started out kind of rough.

Jack stroked a hand through his hair and leaned against a table thinking. Everyone else was exploring the art room looking for a sign of the paints but everywhere they checked they came up short-handed. With every cabinet they opened and every shelf they gazed upon, there was nothing. The only paints and dyes that were in the room contained lead and there was no way they would use that. There were children as old as three who were going to be participating, and children of that age will put anything in their mouths. None of them wanted some toddler sucking on an egg with a toxic surface, and none if them were going to give up searching. Jack tuned out the noise behind him as his thoughts strayed off course to something else.

What if his friends ended up like his parents? His parents loved him in the beginning, and then they left. What if he met the same fate again? If that did happen, Jack wouldn't be too surprised. Everyone's opinions can change, so the opinions of his friends can change too.

North placed his hand on his chin as he thought about what to do. Surely there's a way out, there always is. His fingers brushed against the stubble on his face when a light bulb went off in his head.

"Aster! I have solution!"

"Well, what are you waiting for mate? Lay it on me."

"They have paints at the elementary school a few blocks away, right?"

"Yeah, but what are you-"

"All the teachers there know us! We've put on so many events at the school that they know what we're up to. What if we go down there and ask the art teacher if we can borrow paints?"

"It's a Saturday mate, the art teacher might not even be there."

"But that's isn't a guarantee. C'mon Aster, don't be so worried! Everything will turn out just fine."

"Are you forgetting that Easter is two weeks away? Asking right now on such a short notice would-"

"We will worry about that later! This is important to you, right? Then we leave now and go ask."

"I dunno North..."

Aster had been to the elementary school so many times. Whether it was to pick up Sophie or for a holiday event, Aster knew most of the teachers there. Who knows, maybe this could actually work out in the end. Aster looked over to Tooth, Sandy, and Jack to see what they thought and they all agreed it was a good idea and worth a shot. Jack was perfectly fine as long as he wouldn't have to go to the elementary school. He's not supposed to be seen there, and going inside the building might blow his big secret.

"Oi Frosty, you wanna come with North and I down to the school?"

"No thanks, I'll just stay here with Tooth and Sandy."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"Alright Frosty, whatever you say."

Aster was actually a bit disappointed that Jack chose to stay. If he had come along with them, maybe they could have worked something out with the staff workers so that Jack could visit regularly. Knowing that Jack was secretly trespassing on an elementary school to play with a couple of kids ten years younger than him was a bit degrading. Even when you worded everything like that, it made Jack sound like some sort of creepy pedophile. No wonder he wanted his presence to stay unknown.

North and Aster both quickly left the high school and made their way to the parking lot. While they traveled to the lower school, the other three teens stayed behind to set up. They spread out some newspapers on the tables, organized paint trays, arranged the eggs for painting, and laid out a row of paint brushes and stencils. None of them even knew if they'd be painting today, but setting up wouldn't do any harm. Besides, it took them approximately seven minutes to set everything up.

In the end, they all round up sitting at a table together. Jack was aimlessly staring out a window while Sandy sat at the edge twiddling his thumbs. Tooth knew that Sandy wouldn't be able to work on Jack's present yet, Jack was sitting across from him! The whole dolphin necklace present is supposed to be a surprise.

Since Aster and North wouldn't be back for a whole, Tooth saw this as the perfect opportunity to get to know Jack.

"So Jack, have you liked working with us so far?"

Jack turned his head towards Tooth's direction. He hadn't expected her to start up a conversation so suddenly.

"Yeah, it's fine. There's a lot of hard work, but nothing I can't handle with you guys. Besides, its kind of fun to be around people for a change."

"That's good to hear. We all work very hard for these kinds of things and all of the kids really love what we do."

Sandy nodded to Tooth's statement in agreement with her.

"But it's not just the kids who appreciate us, their parents-"

Tooth caught herself mid-sentence when she realized what she had slipped into the chat. Jack was a seventeen year old orphan who lived in the attic of the orphanage, so how sensitive was he about families?

Jack noticed that Tooth had stopped talking. It took him a moment to understand why, but once he did he continued the discussion.

"You don't have to feel bad, Tooth. It's fine if you talk about parents around me."

Sandy was lost in what his two friends were talking about and he made a question mark on his notepad.

"Oh that's right Sandy; I think you were asleep when Tooth and North came to pick me up. Well, I live at the orphanage in town but really I don't understand why everyone makes a big deal about it. I mean, you don't always have to feel sorry for me."

Jack smiled to himself and masked the oncoming storm of sadness raging up in his mind. He had never talked about his parents or his position as an orphan in front of anyone before, he only thought about it when he was alone. No, he should be over this by now. He's turning eighteen in two weeks; he can't be sobbing over how his birth parents had left him and moved one to start new families without him. He shouldn't even think about how he plays with Jamie and Pippa, the new offspring of his separated parents. In fact, Jack should just forget that his birthday falls upon his parents' wedding anniversary.

His parents didn't even want him anymore after a few years. He was "the little mistake that ruined everything" or the "damn child" as his mother worded it when she was mad. The last time his family was together was fifteen years ago, and he was barely old enough to cherish any of it. In fact, the last time he saw his parents happy was when they were walking along the street or sidewalk with a new spouse and a new child.

"Jack, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you look like you're about to cry."

"What?"

Jack felt his face and small drops of water protruded from his eyes. Why was he so upset? Why wasn't he acting more mature about this?

"I'm sorry Jack, I didn't mean to-"

"No no it's not you, it's just allergies. Spring is coming up so that means pollen everywhere and things like that. It happens every year don't worry about it."

Wiping his face on his sleeve, Jack smiled once again. Hopefully they would all buy his cleverly though up lie, and it seemed to partly work for him. They stopped talking for a second before Jack made up an excuse to leave the room.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to go use the bathroom."

Jack got out of his seat before the others could object and exited the room. He shut the door behind him allowing Tooth and Sandy to be alone in the art room.

Tooth sighed to herself and buried her face in her hands. This was all her fault. She was the one who brought up the topic and now Jack was most likely running off to a bathroom to cry about how sad his back story is. Sandy placed a hand on Tooth's shoulder and wrote a message on his notepad.

_Hey now, don't be too hard on yourself._

"But this is entirely my fault! Jack was doing fine until I opened up my big mouth and now he's upset! He lives in an attic and we're probably his first friend in a long time! What if his emotions are just hanging by a thread? I mean, he's been alone for so long..."

_You were just trying to get to know him better. What you said was just an accident._

Tooth sighed to herself.

"Will you go check on him to see if he's okay?"

Sandy nodded and walked off. Tooth watched her friend leave to go find Jack and she wished that she should go and comfort him too. However, Jack was most likely in the boys' bathroom and even though it was a Saturday, Tooth was still a girl.

/

Jack was leaning against a sink in the bathroom. He had to clear his head, so he looked in the mirror. A pale boy with white hair and wet, blue eyes stared back at him, and all he saw was what his parents had hated. He saw a mistake, a troublemaker, and the reason why his parent's weren't happy together.

No.

He has to stop thinking like this.

He can't spend his entire life being sorry for himself.

He has to do what his parents did.

He has to move on.

Jack turned on the faucet in the sink and gathered water in his hands. He splashed the brisk water against his face to calm himself down. The cold always comforted him, even if he was inside. Water was running down his arms and seeping into his hoodie but he didn't care, he just needed to clear the negative thoughts in his head.

"It hurts doesn't it, Jack."

Jack gasped and turned around to see Pitch standing against the wall.

"Pitch? How long have you've been there? Now listen, I know that you're a huge creep, but you seriously need to get a life that doesn't include stalking people that are maybe half your age. Wait, were you listenig to what I was saying when-"

"I'm not here to listen to your stupid remarks; we still have things to discuss."

"What do you mean by that? You're the one who left the art room and why would I want to talk to you?."

"Listen Frost, you're being so clueless."

"About what?"

"Weren't you listening before? About your so called friends."

"Didn't we just have this talk?"

"But now we're alone, so we can finally chat together in peace."

Pitch took a step closer to Jack and the boy only took a step back. What was Pitch going to do? What if he did something to Jack? If he did something to Jack, how would the others find out?

Jack was about to run past Pitch and out of the bathroom when Sandy came in. and saw them.

* * *

**A/N: okay everyone heres a little tip:if you grow up and have kids, dont call them a damn child or say that the biggest mistake youve ever made is keeping them when they're around. words dont usually bother me, but when my parents say things like that to me it really hurts and if its enough to make me really upset, then you might make someone else really upset as well. even if you have siblings i dont think its a good idea to tell them that your family would be better off without you and mean it because you may not know how upset you can make them **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N; omg theres over 200 reviews now *screeches*. now i know that this fic isnt as suspenseful or as thrilling as Sleep was, but wow i am just happy that all of you out there are liking it. **

**and if there are any fellow Homestuck fans out there (its 4/13 here), I hope all of you are doing fine accounting the status of the webcomic and its fandom because wow did you even see the update.  
**

Chapter Fifteen

Jack had never been so relieved before in his life. His friend, Sandy, was here with him and he calmed down. On the outside, he was as cool as the snow outside. On the inside, he was scared. Pitch was still too close for his comfort and the only thing he wanted to do was get out of there.

Sandy was outraged at what he had walked into. Jack was backed against the wall looking dreadful while Pitch was standing in front of him. He wasn't sure what Pitch was about to do, but he knew that he would not allow whatever it is to take place. Thinking fast, Sandy ran over to the liquid soap dispenser and filled his hand with the substance. Pitch's back was turned and he was focused on Jack so he didn't see Sandy approach him from behind.

Jack smiled to himself knowing that Sandy had a plan and decided to play along with him.

"Listen Pitch, I'd turn around if I were you."

"What do you-"

Pitch glanced behind him and took a step back as he was alarmed to see Sandy standing behind him. Was that soap in one of his hands? Pitch didn't even have a chance to respond before Sandy threw the soap at his face making the soap sting his eyes.

The older man winced as the cleaning material made contact with his eyes and clenched them shut while placing a hand over his face. Sandy took this opportunity to grab Jack's arm and drag him out of the bathroom as they ran out together. Pitch was left behind with soap in his eyes while Sandy and Jack had made their escape. As he felt around for the sink, Pitch turned on the water ad began to flush out his eyes while cursing to himself.

He should have never let his guard down. Balling his fists, Pitch loathed what had just taken place. He was Kozmotis Pitchiner, the veteran general who fought in wars.

He was the veteran general who was just defeated by Sanderson ManSnoozie and a handful of liquid soap.

How could he have been so foolish? It took every bit of self control in Pitch to keep himself from storming into the art room to confront Sandy and have his revenge on everyone.

Bu now was not the time.

Let them enjoy their time together while it lasts, so that when the day finally comes it will break their hearts.

A tight-lipped smile was on Pitch's face and even though he still felt a burning sensation in his bloodshot eyes, thinking about what he was planning to do next week to Sandy was pleasing.

/

"Wow Sandy, remind me not to get on your bad side."

Sandy nodded his head to Jack as they walked back to the art room. Jack was glad to be out of there, but he felt as if they should quicken their pace. If Pitch was as much as a creepy stalker with no life and way too much free time as Jack thought he was, then he could be following them right now. Sandy saw Jack look nervously behind them every few seconds and put a hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him down.

Jack looked at Sandy and the smaller boy shook his head indicating that everything was going to be okay. Still unsure, the shaken orphan pursed his lips. What if Pitch bothered them again? And what was he even going to do back there?

"Hey Sandy,"

Sandy's attention snapped to his friend and he listened closely as to what his friend had to say.

"Thanks, for doing what you did back there."

Jack watched as Sandy pulled out his notepad and flipped to a new page. Sandy then proceeded to take out his pen and wrote down his response.

_It's nothing Jack. You alright?_

"Yeah, I'm fine."

_I think you're lying about that. You seemed pretty upset back in the art room and that whole thing with Pitch in the bathroom must have been scary._

"No really, there's nothing wrong."

_Do you want to talk about it? I know that the whole thing about being an orphan must upset you sometimes, but it always helps to talk about your problems._

"Well, I won't tell you about my nonexistent problem but I _will_ tell you that Pitch needs to get a pet cat or a girlfriend to occupy his time."

Sandy blew air out of his nose as he smiled at Jack's remark.

_I think Pitch is allergic to cats._

"If so, then maybe he can get a horse or some other animal. He could have fun riding it around all day instead of pestering us."

The two friends laughed together as they pictured Pitch riding off into the sunset on a horse. If Pitch had a horse of his own, maybe he would be happier. As they laughed together, Sandy was glad to see Jack smiling again. He doesn't know about Jack's past, so he doesn't know how tragic it may or may not be. As far as he knows, Jack doesn't even have any siblings or a family to call his own. However, that doesn't mean that Sandy can't act like an older brother to Jack.

/

Tooth looked up when she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer. She was glad to see that it was Sandy and Jack walking in together and both of them had big smiles on their faces.

As soon as Jack walked into the room, his was met with Tooth wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh my gosh Jack I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to offend your or anything. I-"

"Woah woah woah Tooth, calm down. It's really not that big of a deal."

"But Jack, the way you just ran off like that..."

"I told you, I was going to use the bathroom. People do that a lot. They use the bathroom."

Jack smiled at Tooth and the girl snickered to herself. The way she was looking at him made him feel...how would he describe it? He felt like there were butterflies in his stomach and his face felt warm, he didn't know why his body was like this. How does Tooth even make him feel like that? She can spend hours with Jack not making him feel different but as soon as he stares into her eyes, he feels off.

"So, are you sure you're fine Jack?"

"How many times do I have to say it to you guys? It's cool, there is nothing you need to worry about."

"Because we have some free time right now while North and Aster are gone. You can talk-"

"Nah. There's not enough time for me to tell you _everything _that you want to know. So anyway, are we just going to stand around here and talk about how I'm okay or are we going to do something?"

After his little moment that caused him to run off to the bathroom where he was confronted by Pitch, Jack wasn't feeling like telling Tooth and Sandy his sob story about his parents. Besides, a story like that could wait. He was in no rush at all to tell them.

Just then, Tooth's cell phone started to ring. Tooth looked at the screen to see that Aster was calling and she promptly picked it up to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tooth. North and I are at the elementary school but the front doors are locked from the inside and there's nobody to let us in. There are cars in the parking lot and I see some people walking around inside so we know that there are staff workers in the building but they don't hear us knocking."

"Are you sure that you can't get inside?"

"Well, I reckon that the back doors are open but we can't even get to them from here."

"Oh..."

"Hey, is Jack there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you put him on?"

"Sure."

Tooth didn't know why Aster suddenly needed to talk to Jack, but she him the phone anyways. Jack was just as confused as to why Aster wanted to talk to him but he answered the phone anyway.

"Yes?"

"Listen Frostbite, I-"

"Wait, why are you suddenly calling me Frostbite now? Where did that even come from? I thought you were calling me Frosty or something like that. Does that mean I have to give you another nickname like Cottontail? Because your last name is Bunnymund and it deals with bunnies."

"Will you just listen to me for one second?"

"Sure thing, Cottontail."

Jack could hear Aster sigh from the other end of the line and he could swear the Australian was probably pinching the bridge of his nose. Irritating Aster never seemed to dissatisfy Jack.

"Okay Aster, go on."

"Listen mate, remember when on Friday when we met at the elementary school? I was picking up Sophie and you were off doing your thing when the kids go back inside."

"Yeah,"

"Didn't you say that you crawl in through a hole in the fence?"

"Yeah, why?"

"North and I are locked out and we need another way to get in."

Jack smirked to himself.

"So let me get this straight Kangaroo, you need _my _help in sneaking into Burgess Elementary? Isn't that lady at the front desk there? Because to get in, you have to sign in like a civilized person."

Jack made sure to use the exact tone of voice that Aster had used when they met at the school on Friday.

"Yeah I know, but she's not here right now. Can you just tell me where you get in?"

"Go to the back of the fence surrounding the school near the playground and stop where you see the old tree that's bending over. Pull back the branches and there should be a hole in the fence that you guys can crawl through."

"Alright, thanks."

"Oh and just a word of advice, watch out for any thorns."

"Thorns?"

"Yeah. There are some plants growing along the fence and their stalks have small thorns on them. Got it?"

"Got it. Bye."

"Bye."

Aster closed his cell phone and hung up. "Alright North," he said to his friend. "I talked to Jack and he told me how to get in but it's kind of a long shot."

"It doesn't matter! So, what is it?"

"I think I'll show you. Just follow me."

"Why? What did Jack say?"

"He said that there's a hole in the back of the fence that we can get through. He also told me where it is so we might as well go find it."

Both Aster and North started walking around the perimeter of the school and they soon found themselves behind a tall fence. On the other side of the fence was the playground that the children played on during recess and it was still covered in snow just like yesterday.

They reached a point where an overgrown tree was arching forward and covered a portion of the fence and Aster took that as the tree that Jack had mentioned earlier. Following the directions that Jack had given over the phone, Aster pulled back the overlying branches and it revealed a hole in the fence just like Jack had said. Taking a closer look, Aster realized that Jack wasn't kidding when he said that there were thorns. Dead vines were embedded around the wires of the fence as they extended towards the sky and each vine seemed to have tiny thorns along the sides that could prick your skin easily.

Does Jack really crawl through a hole under these conditions everyday?

Aster had to hand it to Jack. That kid had a lot of moxy to come through a hole surrounded by thorns just to play with a few kids for half an hour. Whoever Jack came to see everyday, they must be really important to him.

As they looked at the hole in the fence, the two teens seemed reluctant to crawl through in fear of being jabbed. However, they had no choice. They needed to get paints for Easter and they only had two more weeks to paint everything. If they waited too long, they'll run out of time to paint the eggs.

Aster was the first to crawl through, and North followed. They both had thorns in their hair from the plants but actually crawling through them didn't seem as bad as they thought it would be. Maybe it was their winter coats? Jack only wears a light pair of pants and a blue pullover, so he's bound to get stuck with the small thorns.

Now that they were on school grounds, Aster turned his attention to the back doors of the school and he headed towards him. To his relief, they were unlocked and he gladly stepped inside with North not far behind. "What should we do now since we're inside?" North asked Aster. "Should we just go to the art room?"

"I say yes and if the art teacher is there, we just ask them if we can borrow a few paints and then get back to the high school."

"That's it? Easy! We will get paints in no time."

"And what makes you so sure that the art teacher will be there?"

"What makes you so sure she won't be there? You worry too much and besides, we've done so many things for the kids here that everyone we ask will know what we plan to use the paint for."

Though he hated to admit it, North was right. They had been doing so many functions for this elementary school for years so there was no way that the art teacher would recline their request.

Aster and North soon found themselves walking through the school with Aster leading the way. Once they reached their destination, Aster peered inn through the window in the door and looked around. At first he saw no one in there, but when he looked towards the back in the room he saw the school's art teacher, Ms. Lejion, sorting her art supplies.

Ms. Lejion was a short woman for her age and was wearing an olive green trench coat that was open to reveal her white t-shirt underneath with a heart printed in the middle. She was wearing blue jeans and a blue hate with a cat face on the front that fit smugly over her short and unruly dark hair. Being an art teacher for an elementary school, she never had time to do things such as comb her hair but she loved cats more than anything. She had one cat at home named Karkitty which she took care of while also referring to her job of teaching art to young children.

Ms. Lejion looked up when she heard multiple and rapid knocks at her door. She hadn't looked to see who it was yet, but they sounded like they were in a hurry to see her. Ms. Lejion opened the door and was surprised to see Aster and North standing outside in the hallway. Wasn't Easter approaching? They should be working on the Easter egg hunt for the school, so what are they doing here?

Aster cleared his throat and spoke to the teacher.

"Hi, Ms. Lejion. Listen, sorry to just come here on a short notice but ya know how we paint the eggs for the Easter egg hunt that we do every year for the kids here?"

"Mmhm. Yes, I do."

"Well, some stuff happened to our paints and they were lost before we could even start using them."

"Oh no! That's terrible!"

"Anyway, I was wonderin if maybe we could borrow some paints from here to use? We'd give them right back when we're done."

Looking up into Aster's green eyes, Ms. Lejion was able to see how desperate he was looking and she saw that North had a pleading look as well. Because she read many romance novels, Ms. Lejion was able to see how much this meant to the two boys. They were truly devoted to painting the eggs for Easter, so how could she decline?

"Okay! Just take as much as you need and remember to return them when you're done. The kids aren't using them right now anyways. They're mostly using chalk and crayons." she answered to them with a wink and a cheery smile. "But I expect to see some real dazzling patterns on the eggs!"

A wave of relief swept over both of the boys knowing that Ms. Lejion had agreed to let them use some of her paints.

"Thank you so much for this Ms. Lejion."

"No problem. It's the least I can do after all of the things that you boys and your other friends do for the kids each year. So, you can just come inside and pick out what colors you'll need."

Aster thanked the short teacher once again as he walked in the classroom. North was as equally as pleased with Ms. Lejion and he gave her a thankful hug as he followed Aster into the room. Ms. Lejion grinned at them and watched as Aster picked out a selection of brightly colored bottles of paints for them to use. She even giggled to herself when North had picked out some Christmas colors to use and Aster had greatly protested.

"Do you boys want a box to put the paints in?" she asked them. They firmly agreed at seeing that they already had a large amount of paints picked out to use for Easter. Ms. Lejion walked over to the closet and pulled out a cardboard box for them to use and handed it to them. After the various bottles of paints were packed into the single box, Aster and North bid farewell to Ms. Lejion on their way out.

Overall, Aster was feeling good about today. Even though they had lost some daylight going to the elementary school to borrow some paints, they still had a lot of time left before Easter. Now all they had to do was paint designs on all two hundred eggs, paint the prizes they had made, and stuff the eggs.

/

After a fifteen minute drive back to the high school, North and Aster arrived with the paints. Once they started to walk down the hall to the art room, Aster's ears twitched.

"Oi, North,"

"Hm?"

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like… someone's playin music."

"That's probably Tooth. She had her iPod with."

"Alright then."

North's explanation seemed logical enough. Why else would someone be playing music at a high school on a Saturday?

Once they reached the art room, they were certain that Tooth's iPod _was_ responsible for the music playing and they opened the door to see the cause of it. In the middle of the room was Jack and Sandy, but they were both walking in circles around a single chair. Off to the side was Tooth, with her iPod in her hand. Her finger was hovering above the pause button and once she stopped the music, Jack and Sandy raced to the chair at the same time. Jack was light on his feet, so he was the one to reach the chair first. But before he could sit down, Sandy leapt forward and pushed Jack and claimed the seat as his own.

"Sandy that's cheating!" Jack remarked to his friend. He wasn't discouraged that he lost; he was actually smiling with amusement of how Sandy had played. Tooth was doing the same at seeing Sandy cheat like that while Sandy just smiled and shrugged to Jack. None of them had even noticed that North and Aster had returned.

Tooth looked over and saw that her friends were back with paints from the elementary school and she greeted them.

"Oh hi you guys!"

North greeted Tooth and he put the box of paints on the table while Aster just stared at the situation in front of him. "Tooth, what are you and the blokes even doing?" he asked curiously.

"Oh this? We were playing musical chairs."

"What?"

"Musical chairs. You know; the game where people walk around a smaller amount of chairs and when the music stops they have to sit in one of the chairs. Whoever is leftover is out and-"

"I know what musical chairs is, Tooth."

"Oh. Then why-"

"I meant why are you three even playing musical chairs in the first place? I know that you were waiting for us, but doesn't that game seem a bit...ya know...childish?"

"Well, Jack suggested it and even though it may be a bit childish, we can still have fun playing it. Right Jack?"

"Yeah," Jack answered. "just because something's directed to kids doesn't mean that people as old as us can't enjoy them. I mean really, when was the last time you guys got in touch with your inner child?"

Aster just stared at Jack not expecting him to ask something like that. Since it was brought to his attention, Aster realized how deep Jack's question really went. He hasn't acted like a child in years. The closest thing that came to him acting like a kid was when he played with Sophie, but when he would do that he would act more like the adult than a kid. From what Aster had seen; Jack is probably gets in touch with his childish side every day. He had seen the way that Jack had played with Sophie; it was as if he was being a real kid for the first time.

Didn't Jack have any friends growing up?

That thought was quickly pushed to the back of Aster's head when he saw that Tooth and North were unloading the paints. As his friends set down the bottles containing the colorful liquids, Aster got to work and he completely disregarded Jack's question.

* * *

**A/N:** **okay so has anyone every gotten liquid soap in their eyes? because it stings and is not pleasant one bit. anyway, heres some shoutouts to some of you that reviewed:**

**MysteryPerson: oh wow i thought i was being kinda annoying putting that note back there in the last chapter but its good to hear that it made an impact ;u;  
**

**Guest: okay so the last time that a review has made me cry was back when i was writing Sleep, but yeah, i actually started to tear up at reading what you had said and i would like to thank you for those words. what you said about my writing also made me tear up because i always thought i was kinda average compared to the other RotG fanfic writers on this website but i am so happy to hear that i pulled off something different like a professional.  
**

**VideoGamingFreak1213: dont even get me started on danny phantom, i can talk about that show for hours**

**ok so writing about emotions is really draining so im going to go scream into a pillow now. anyway, review if youd like to but im not forcing you to.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: so i read the reviews and i think we can _all_ conclude that getting a handful of soap in our eyes is the worst feeling ever**

**oh and by the way, there will be a song used in this chapter called The Middle by Jimmy Eat World and i apologize if youre not a big fan of the song, but if you havent heard it yet i suggest you take a quick listen to it before reading this chapter.**

Chapter Sixteen

"I think you should roll up your sleeves, Frosty."

"So now I'm back to Frosty? Wow Cottontail, make up your mind."

"I'm just sayin, you wear that hoodie a lot. If you get paint on it I know you'll just sulk about it."

"Okay fine."

Jack rolled up his sleeves halfway so that they wouldn't get covered in any stray paint. He's had this hoodie for as long as he can remember, and he didn't want to ruin it. Jack didn't remember how old he was when he received it, but he remembered that it was a gift from his mother that he grew into. Usually someone with his kind of past would leave behind something that came from his mother, but Jack held on to it. She gave him this hoodie when she still loved him, and sometimes Jack pretended like she still did when he wore this hoodie.

He didn't have other types of clothing anyway.

He had no job and no money, so he had no chance of going to a mall and legally purchasing new clothes. If he did get new clothes, they would just be donated hand me downs from other people. That's how Jack attained most of his clothing such as his shoes or pants. He didn't need many shirts though. In the winter and fall he would just wear his pullover and in the summer and spring he just wore a plain white t-shirt.

Aster and Sandy had started to pour out some paints in paint trays while North and Tooth picked out their paint brushes. Jack watched as his friends started to paint the eggs and wondered if he should start doing what they did. Tooth was painting one egg a light shade of turquoise while Sandy was painting one gold. Deciding that it was his turn to start painting, Jack picked up an egg and dipped a brush into a tray of white paint.

After painting on a base coat of white, Jack took a thin brush and dipped it in light blue paint. He then proceeded to paint an intricate and complex fern design across the egg to decorate it and he even dashed a pinch of silver glitter on top for effect. Once he was done, he held it up to the light to admire his work. It looked as if he had created frost on it with the paint.

The paint was already drying and Jack was about to set it down when he felt Aster tap on his shoulder. As Jack turned around with his egg still in his hand, Sandy caught a glimpse of it and gave Jack a thumbs up showing that he had done a good job with the egg. "Thanks, Sandy." Jack said before responding to Aster.

"So you wanted to speak with me, Kangaroo?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay, go ahead."

"Listen Frosty, you're pretty good with a brush and all but, this is spring."

"So?"

"The paint that you use, it makes the egg look like a winter decoration."

"Well there _is_ still some snow outside."

"Yeah, but by the time that Easter rolls around, all of the snow would have melted by then."

"How do you know? Last time I checked, you're not pals with Mother Nature and what about the groundhog?"

"Can you just paint the eggs so that they look in season? I have enough to deal with when North paints them like Christmas ornaments."

"Are you saying that you don't like how I work?"

"Well you're designs are pretty good accounting that you probably did it free handed, but I think that you should stop painting frost on the eggs."

"So now you don't like my designs? What happened to not liking my color palette?"

Tooth, North, and Sandy were off to the side watching as Aster and Jack were discussing another one of their conflicts. And they though North and Aster argued a lot. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Jack's egg, but Aster just didn't think that it went well with the spring theme. He was so picky when it came to the colors of the eggs. Each egg had to stand out so that it could still be seen even though it was hidden and it had to look like an Easter egg and not just an egg with random colors on it.

Having enough of her friends' squabbling Tooth walked over to the two of them to propose a solution.

/

Ten minutes had passed since Jack and Aster's dispute. Tooth had brought them to a compromise in which Jack was allowed to paint whatever he wanted on the eggs as long as they would be in bright colors. Although he wasn't completely keen on the idea, Jack decided to go along with it if it meant he could paint snowflakes on the eggs. Aster wasn't one hundred percent on board with it either, but as long as Jack's eggs looked colorful enough from a distance he was okay with it. Although he would have preferred that Jack painted on designs relating to flower blossoms and animals, snowflakes weren't _that _bad when they were in different colors.

The entire art room was silent as everyone was focused on painting. None of them were talking at the moment, so the only noise was being made by Tooth's iPod as it played music.

_Hey, don't write yourself off yet._

_It's only in your head you feel left out, or looked down on._

_Just try your best, try everything you can._

_And don't you worry what they tell themselves, when you're away._

Jack looked up from the pink and purple egg he was fixated on and saw that Aster and North had gone into the storage room. He remembered that Aster had said something about getting more paint trays, he might have taken North along to help carry them out. Sandy had fallen asleep in the corner of the room and that meant that Jack was basically alone with Tooth.

He had never listened to music before, not even on the radio. The only songs Jack has heard in his lifetime were the tunes played in music class when he was a kid. He didn't have a computer, so he didn't have any downloads or a music playing device to call his own. Now that Jack was listening to the music being emitted from Tooth's iPod, he realized that he had been missing out. The rhythm of the song Tooth was playing had soon consumed Jack's body and he started to sway while he worked.

Meanwhile, Tooth looked over to see Jack moving to the music as he painted tiny snowflakes on an egg. She smiled to herself knowing that Jack was having a nice time here, and she scooted over to him.

"So Jack," she started. " I take it that you like this song?"

"Hmph? Oh, yeah I like it. Do you?"

"Well of course I do Jack, why else would it be on my iPod?"

"Oh, yeah that makes a lot of sense. Well this song had a nice beat to it."

"Yeah, that's what I like so much about it."

"What's this song called?"

"The Middle."

Aster and North were still in the closet, and Sandy was still asleep. A little break from painting wouldn't hurt, right?

Soon enough, the infectious beat of the song caught on with Tooth and she found herself doing a small dance next to Jack. Whether she was dancing next to Jack on purpose or for fun she didn't know, but Tooth hoped that Jack would join along soon.

"Wow Tooth, you're pretty good at dancing."

"Oh thanks Jack! When I was a kid, my mom made me take dance lessons and ballet, so I guess I still remember some of the moves."

"Really now? Do you remember enough moves to show me something cool?"

"I can try."

Tooth moved to the center of the room where Jack and Sandy had been playing musical chairs earlier. Wanting the same song to be playing, she set her iPod to loop and began to dance in front of Jack.

Jack watched Tooth in awe as she gracefully performed an assortment of spins and twirls. The jewelry she was wearing only made her look even more dazzling and the light that came through the windows reflected off their surfaces and made her look radiating. She jumped in the air a few times and it looked like she had been hovering off the ground for a few seconds. There was a smile on her face and Jack smiled as well knowing that Tooth was having fun. She looked stunning, and she was smiling too.

"You seem to be having a good time, Tooth."

"Well why don't you try it Jack? Dancing is really fun and I'm sure you more than a balancing act up your sleeves."

"Me? Dancing?"

In all of his years of living as a lonely child, Jack never had a reason to dance until now. When they had to dance in elementary school Jack would just be sitting in the corner watching everyone rave with their friends while the music played. He didn't even go to any of the school dances when he was in middle school.

"Well uh, I don't really dance that-"

"Oh come on Jack! I'm sure you'll be great! Just let your body do the thinking."

Without another word, Tooth pulled Jack into the open space as the music kept playing.

_It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.  
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright)._

For a seventeen year old orphan who had never danced a day before in his life, Jack was really light on his feet. He followed Tooth's advice and let his body do the thinking and he was a natural at dancing. Even though he wasn't as good as Tooth, he wasn't making a fool of himself either. Both of them were smiling and letting loose together while the music in the background played and Jack had decided to take Tooth's hand and raise it in the air so that she could twirl under it. When Tooth looked up to Jack, she saw his genuine smile and practically melted on the inside. If she wasn't falling for him enough, she certainly was now.

The dancing couple was too busy focused on one another that they didn't realize that North and Aster had come out of the supply closet. None of them said anything as they were mesmerized by Tooth and Jack's movements as the same song looped around once again. It wasn't until Jack spun did he realize that they were there watching them. Once he made eye contact with them, he stopped and Tooth quickly followed his example.

"Well, someone's light on their feet, right twinkle toes?" Aster said to Jack with a smirk.

Jack was about to give a snarky response when Tooth suddenly spoke up before him.

"Aster he's wonderful at dancing! Did you see what we were doing back there? I can't believe this was his first time dancing he's a natural!"

North smiled to himself. He _knew_ that Jack was full of surprises. Whether they were pleasant or alarming, there was a lot about Jack Frost that they did not know about. Even he may not know everything about himself.

Jack wasn't used to attention; he was barely even used to having friends and being included. He could feel his cheeks blush and he tried to hide it on his face. His skin was as pale as a ghost, any color on his face stuck out like a jellybean in a bowl of raisins. Someone could be miles away and they could still see him blush. It was only a matter of time before one of the others saw him blushing, and Jack knew that he had to change the subject.

"Well, I ice skate a lot and I'm pretty good at it. It probably rubbed off on me and maybe that's why I'm good as you guys say."

Wait…

No.

He did _not_ mean to just blurt that out in front of him. What he said had just slipped out, and now all the attention would surely be on him. Sometimes Jack just hated the fact that his mouth had a mind of its own; but he was not about to start bragging about how skillful he is at ice skating, even if he's possibly the best ice skater in town. He liked being acknowledged by people and he liked having friends, but he what he did not like was everyone suddenly talking about him with their eyes focused on every detail of him.

"Really? You skate?" North probed. "How often do you skate?"

"Well, I did it every day when I was younger and-"

"But I've never seen you at the skating rink before, and I go there very often to see my Uncle Phil who's the manager there."

"Oh yeah…I know Phil. Isn't he that big guy with the long mustache?"

"Why yes,"

"Yeah, I definitely know him."

"But if you two are friends, then why hasn't he told me about you?"

"Well, when I would go there I would occasionally see him around."

Jack remembered how he saw Phil every day when he would go down to the skating rink, and he remembered how the large man would always toss him out the backdoor. When he was sixteen, Jack found out that there was a new skating rink in town. He used to always skate on the frozen lake, but having an actual skating rink sounded nice to him.

He went to the skating rink almost every day, except that he would have to sneak into the place.

To be enabled to use the rink, you had to be a member and buy a membership. Jack had no money, and he wasn't about to steal any either just so that he could skate on a giant piece of ice. Despite going to the rink often, Phil would catch him and kick him out before he got the chance to step foot on the ice.

Up until his seventeenth birthday Jack would bust into that place just to be caught by Phil. He wasn't even that interested in skating there anymore, being caught by Phil had become Jack's new interest. They had even made a game about it. Jack would see how long he could hang around without being discovered and Phil would see how long it would take him to find the boy. Jack made countless attempts to get to the rink and even though he knew that they were going to fail, it was still fun. Phil was completely oblivious about Jack's position in life, but Jack never had any reason to tell him. According to Phil, Jack was that white haired kid who would always sneak in unannounced.

And that is what happens when Jack grows up alone at an orphanage. There is no one to keep track of him, and there is no one to be an actual friend towards him.

When he had turned seventeen, Jack had to stop going down to the rink. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he's been so busy. Turning seventeen had filled Jack's head with thoughts of the future, and he hasn't ice skated since. He was sure that the ice skates he owned were still buried in the attic somewhere, and right now they were only collecting dust.

"I've never seen you skating at the rink before."

If Jack did skate at the rink, then North would know because he would surely remember seeing a scrawny boy with pale skin and white hair zip around. Who else looked like that other than Jack?

"Well, I don't really skate there that much. I mostly use the frozen lake outside of town by the park. Even though I'm the only person there, there's plenty of room for me to do lots of stunts and tricks. And right now, I've been too busy to ice skate."

Jack knew that people weren't exactly supposed to skate on frozen a since they could fall through the ice, but he had been doing it for years. He was as light as a feather, the only way he could fall through the ice was if it was almost completely melted. Besides, he would have so much fun outside when he was younger and the lake only made it better.

"Do you think I could see you skate sometimes, Jack?" Tooth optimistically asked. She would love to see Jack glide around on the ice, and she wouldn't mind spending more alone time with him either. She was about to say something else when she glanced at the clock and realized that the day was almost over.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Hey guys, is it okay if I bring Tiffany with me tomorrow? My mom is busy with my other sisters and I have to watch her."

"I think she should be fine, Tooth." responded Aster. "Maybe she can play with Sophie and the two ankle biters can keep each other occupied."

"Thanks Aster, I'll make sure that she stays out of trouble."

Jack turned to Tooth. He was still the new guy, so he was highly misinformed. "Who's Tiffany?" he asked. "And why do you need to bring her?"

"Oh that's right, you still don't know that much about us. Well, I have four younger sisters. Three of them are triplets, and the youngest is Tiffany."

"Really? Four siblings?"

"Yup! Tiffany is only three so she's not in preschool yet but she still plays with Sophie a lot since they're only a year apart in age."

"Wow, so you have a family of seven?"

"That's right, my sisters, me, and my parents. We live in a big house by the neighborhood where you live in, Jack."

"Yeah I remember, I only saw the silhouette of it but I can tell that your house is huge."

"Yes, it is. My sisters like to pretend its a huge palace and sometimes they dress up as little birds and run around the house. I think it's really cute since they're still really young."

Jack could never imagine having a family as large as Tooth's. In fact, he could barely imagine having a family that loves him. He didn't even know what it was like to have siblings. Jamie and Pippa were like siblings to him, but he wasn't even supposed to know that they existed. His parents probably thought that he was adopted to a new family and living somewhere else. All of the young orphans were adopted after a few days, so Jack had no time to get to know them.. Why would he try to make friends if they would only leave after two days?

/

All five of the high school seniors worked late into the night once again. Although this wasn't exactly how Jack had planned his Saturday to go, it wasn't a total loss in his eyes. He spent some quality time with his new found friends and had fun painting the eggs.

Not to mention dancing with Tooth.

He had never danced with a girl before, and today Jack had found out that he liked it. Or did he just like Tooth? Everything was still fuzzy to him, but Jack would figure out everything later.

It wasn't until six in the afternoon were they told that they had to leave the school. According to Aster, they had to pack everything back into the van and move it all back to his house. If they left everything at the high school, anyone could just walk in and screw up all of their hard work. The art room was just infested with teens that were just waiting to spread graffiti around or mess with the personal belongings of other people. After putting the eggs and paints back into North's van, the group set out back to Aster's house. It was there where they had to unload everything yet again as everything was transferred to the basement. After everything was put back, North went to drop everyone back at their own homes.

Sandy was the first to go back home, then Tooth, and then Jack. North watched his friend wave goodbye as he walked up through the snow and into the orphanage. He still felt sorry for Jack and for not noticing him sooner, but that was all in the past. They were going to make his life with them much better. None of them would ever make the mistake if ignoring Jack ever again.

Jack sighed to himself as he opened the door to the orphanage. Another day gone by, and another day in the eyes of him. The orphanage was swarming with kids, but Jack was invisible to them all.

"Hey Snow White!"

Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation. He recognized that voice, it belonged to Cassidy. Cassidy was the one who let Tooth get to his room, but she was just insufferable all together. "What is it, Cassidy?" he asked her with no interest whatsoever.

Cassidy stood in front of Jack with a grin on her face and a suitcase in her hands.

"I got adopted today!"

"You what?"

"My new family awaits me! Bye Jack!"

Cassidy ran out the door before Jack could say anything else. She was met with a young couple and her new father hugged her tight while her new mother kissed her head. Cassidy was still smiling as she got in the car with them and then they drove off down the road.

Jack was left standing in the middle if the hallway. The one time Cassidy finds out his real name, she leaves? Who would even want to adopt her anyway? No one at the orphanage even liked her that much.

Whatever.

It didn't matter.

Pulling his hood up and shoving his hands into his front pocket, Jack walked down the hall. He wasn't too fond of Cassidy, but everyone seemed to get adopted excerpt him even if they were brats.

"Jackson, there is someone here to see you."

Jack nearly had a heart attack when he heard that voice and he turned around to face Mr. Moon. He had forgotten that this creepy man he had met this morning was the new caretaker. After everything that Mr. Moon had said earlier, Jack still didn't want to get too close to the man. Everything that he had said was too alarming to Jack, and it made him wonder who this "Mr. Moon" character really was. It was as if he just appeared out of nowhere already knowing everything about Jack.

"Did you hear me, Jack? There is someone here to see you."

Jack snapped out of his thoughts and responded to the older man.

"What?"

"There is someone here to see you. They are looking to adopt you."

"What?!"

He couldn't believe this.

Someone wanted to adopt _him_?

But who were they?

"They are in my office waiting but I must warn you dear boy, be very careful. I don't want you causing any trouble or getting into any."

Mr. Moon knew exactly who was waiting in his office. If the guardians were in Jack's dreams as human teenagers, then that meant that the boogeyman was here too. In fact, the man who had come today had the same voice as Pitch and shared a close resemblance to him.

But this was Jack's dream.

The Man in the Moon had many powers and abilities, but that does not give him the right to control the thoughts of others whether they were aware of it or not. Not even the guardian of dreams can do that. Right now, Mr. Moon could only play along in Jack's game and watch everything fold out.

Jack ran past Mr. Moon and went straight to his office. In all of the lonely years he had spent at the orphanage, no one even thought of adopting him. It was always, "No, I don't think he is the right one." or "Do you have any more obedient children?" and Jack would always remain being a kid without a family. Until now. This could be his chance of having a _real_ family that loves him and cares for him.

He could have parents.

He could be in a family.

The door to Mr. Moon's office slowly creaked open. The last time Jack was here he was interrogated by the caretaker that knew a little too much information, and a part of Jack wanted to leave that all behind. As the door finally swung open, the guest waiting inside was finally revealed to Jack, but the teenager only stood in shock at who it was.

/

"Good evening, Jack."

"Pitch? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am looking to adopt a poor little soul who is desperately in need of-"

"This has to be some kind of joke."

Jack was feeling a mixture of emotions right now.

He was disappointed.

He was angry.

He was scared.

The last time he was with Pitch was at the high school in the bathroom. Luckily Sandy had been there to save him, but none of his friends were here now. What if Pitch tried to do something again?

Mr. Moon caught up with Jack and saw that he had seen Pitch waiting for him. Jack turned to him and his eyes were only full of panic. "No. No way." he pleaded. "You can't expect me to be taken to home with him!"

"Fear not Jackson, if you do not want to go with him, you don't have to." Mr. Moon responded in a low whisper. Even though this was only a dream, he didn't want Jack to go home with Pitch's alternate human self.

Jack looked back at Pitch and quickly turned away. Mr. Moon's word had somewhat calmed him, but he was still alarmed. What if Pitch _did _become his new father?

"But just to be sure Jack, I think I will leave you alone for just a few moments. Just so that you can clearly make up your mind."

"What? No! I-"

Mr. Moon stepped outside the room and closed the door. He wanted to see how well Jack would handle all of this, and being alone with Pitch for a mere five minutes could open up his mind.

They were alone together in one room. Jack stood his distance from Pitch and tried to talk but his words were caught in his throat. It wasn't until ten seconds had passed of them staring down one another did he finally speak up.

"Alright Pitch, why are you actually here?"

"Weren't you listening the first time? Honestly Jack, I don't know why you always make me repeat what I have to say as if I'm a broken record."

"I know that you don't actually want to adopt me. So why-"

"But what if I do? What if I'm only trying to save you?"

"Save me from what? Having a good life here with my friends?"

"No, I can save you _from_ your friends. By now you should know that everyone in life will only hurt you."

"Is this seriously the only thing that goes on in your head? About my friends somehow leaving me?"

"But what about your family? Your parents, their children,"

"How do you know-"

"We can leave it all behind and go somewhere new. Imagine it, you and me, living a new life with nothing from the past to worry about. Just Pitch Black and Jack Frost."

Jack paused for a moment as the words sank in. He then shook his head and continued to talk.

"What do you even have to say that will make me even consider going home with you? Andy why me anyway? Can't you just go after some other person that's maybe your age?"

"I know what it feels like, Jack. Do you think that you're the only person on this planet to be left alone? To be cast out? To be tossed aside by someone who used to loved you?"

Jack was silent. Pitch wasn't lying. There was honesty in his eyes, but there was also sorrow. For a brief moment, they made complete eye contact and they truly connected.

"I know I am being repetitive, but think about it. You thought that you would live happily ever after with you mother and how did that turn out? You probably think that your life will be fine now that you have friends, but what if they are just like your mother? What if they will only love and accept you for a limited amount of time? It just shows you that you can't trust anyone."

"Then why should I trust you?"

His mind was racing with thoughts. How did Pitch know all this? Perhaps he read his file? Jack knows that he has a file, Mr. Moon had mentioned it before but how did Pitch get his hands on it?

"Like I said before, I can make it all better for you."

Pitch was now three feet away from Jack, and it was clear that he meant business.

"We can move away from this wretched little town and-"

"I'm fine right where I am and I am not going to just pack up my things and leave just because you say so. What do you know anyways? You're not my father, you can't tell me what to do. If I go along with you and we become antisocial together, then what will we do? I don't want to be _anything _like you at all."

It was Jack's turn to step forward and Pitch's turn to step back. He was standing up for himself, and all of the fear that he was once filled with was now replaced with confidence.

"Why don't you take a note, Pitch? I don't want people to hate me. Sure I've made a few mistakes here and there, but I'm not the only one. I won't act like you and go around intimidating people half my age and it's clear that I'm better off where I am now. You can't change that, and you should just leave me and my friends alone. Get a hobby that doesn't include us, and try to stay out of out way."

Jack turned around and opened the door. He walked past Mr. Moon who had been waiting outside and didn't even look back.

Standing alone in the room, Pitch only watched Jack disappear around the corner. He was crushed by what that boy had said to him. His jaw was hanging while the light was reflected off of his empty eyes as if they were filled with nothing. What Jack had just ranted about was devastating. All of the sorrow he was feeling was quickly drained out of his system and Pitch was pulsing with ferocity.

After being alone for all of these years, with no friends or family, Pitch had finally found someone who knew exactly how he had felt.

And how does that person react?

They _reject _him.

This only proved that everything Pitch had said _was_ true.

How could Jack do that?

How could he be so selfish?

An honest offer was made with the white haired brat and he just throws it all away.

Pitch would show him.

He will prove Jack wrong.

If that idiot wants to stay with those stupid friends of his, fine. Let it be.

Pitch will make sure that everything he said about them will be true. They _will_ reject Jack, they _will_ cast him off and leave him in the dust. And when his whole world comes crashing down, Jack will have nothing. All he would be able to do would be to crawl back to Pitch on his knees but Pitch would only turn his back on the boy. But while they're all happy together, why not have a little fun with them?

Not only was Pitch going to have his revenge on Sandy, but on Jack too. He'll show them. He will show them _all_ what Pith Black is capable of.

* * *

**A/N: aagh i am so sorry for taking so long with this but i have been so busy with school.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: aaagh sorry for taking so long to update ;A;  
**

Chapter Seventeen

The pipes hissed as Jack turned the faucets. He hadn't taken a shower this morning, and he needed something to distract his mind anyway. What Pitch had said was so infuriating, and Jack didn't want to think about it. That's just what Pitch wants. The more Jack thinks about it, the more he will think that it will come true. Jack had just made his first friends yesterday, and he couldn't imagine going back his old life of loneliness with no one around.

After disrobing, Jack stepped into the shower. It was almost seven at night, meaning that all of the girls in the building had used up every drop of hot water but Jack didn't care. In the long time that he had been here, he had grown used to showering in the icy cold waters of Antarctica. He enjoyed showering in cold water anyways. It made him feel like his dream self that had risen out of a frozen lake. Speaking of his dreams, Jack wondered what he would dream about tonight. In his last dream they were still collecting teeth, but they were also having fun while doing it.

Jack looked at the shelf on the bathroom wall and wondered why there were fifty different shampoos and conditioners. Couldn't they all use just one brand? It would definitely save a ton of money since the orphanage wouldn't be buying the expensive beauty shampoos or the shampoo directed to people with dandruff. As the water droplets rained down on Jack, he decided to pick a random bottle of shampoo that smelled like strawberries and squirted out a handful of it. Holding liquid soap in his hand reminded him of what Sandy did earlier today. Jack couldn't help but smile knowing that Sandy had fought off Pitch using soap from the boys' bathroom at their high school. Sandy was such a great friend.

Closing his eyes, Jack ran the soap through his white hair and cleansed it of any dirt. He hadn't done so much outside today, but he hadn't showered yesterday either. On Friday he had slipped into his bed as soon as North had dropped him off in the middle of the night and he had no time to shower when he had woken up late. Jack stood under the shower head and let the soap and bubbles wash out of his hair. He glanced back at the shampoo bottle and decided to mindlessly read the label for now reason but to pass the time.

_For ages seven and up._

He didn't even care that he was using shampoo directed towards kids, he was over seven years old meaning that he could use it if he wanted to and no one could stop him.

_Remember to lather, rinse, and repeat!_

Repeat? Why would he have to repeat? Was the product not good enough to get the job done the first time?

Jack placed the bottle back on the shelf and washed the rest of his body. As he cleaned himself, Jack couldn't help but think about everything Pitch had said. That man had known about his family, did he read his file? Jack really hoped that Pitch hadn't read his file. Everything about him was recorded in there meaning that it supplied Pitch with anything to use against him. What if he went after Jamie and Pippa? What if he contacted his original parents?

No, Jack cannot let Pitch make him paranoid.

He can't be afraid, if he's afraid that will only lead to mistakes.

Why did he even read the shampoo label in the first place?

Jack's mind was as focused in the shower as it was in school, meaning that every new thought that popped into his head lead him on a journey of pondering about something pointless.

But still…

Why _did_ he read the shampoo label?

Why was he even using the shampoo for kids ten years younger than him? Sure it made his white hair smell like artificial strawberries, but why did he even choose it in the first place? There was even green bottle of shampoo that made you hair smell like coconuts but he had chosen the one scented like strawberries.

The sound of the cold water hissing onto Jack was heard in the background as he answered his own questions.

He read the shampoo label out of boredom, there was no point in doing it and yet he still did. It was like when people read magazines for two hours while sitting on the toilet. They are not required to read while doing their business, but they do it anyways. And he had just picked out a random bottle of shampoo, he didn't give any thought about which brand he used as long as it could get his hair clean.

Are these_ really_ the only things that Jack can think of when he takes showers?

Can't he just sing in the shower like a normal person?

But when was Jack ever normal?

His hair is white, he looks like a ghost, and he decided to jump on top of his school bus to get a ride to school.

Besides, if Jack started to sing in the shower one of the other orphans might hear him. He's never sung in the shower before, so he has no idea what he sounds like. Jack doesn't even know if his singing voice is good or if it will shatter a window but he wasn't about to find out any time soon.

Maybe he should get out of the shower now…

Did he wash his hair yet?

Jack honestly couldn't remember if he had already washed his hair, so he squeezed out some shampoo and ran it through his hair once again.

Wait…

He repeated.

Jack had just washed his hair, rinsed it out, and now he was repeating.

Is this how the shampoo companies get their customers to repeat? They print it on the label for their consumers to read and plant it in their minds so that they will unconsciously do it again?

Maybe Pitch should be a salesman…he was definitely manipulative. Then again, no one would want to buy anything from him accounting how shady he looks with his black trench coat and eerie complexion. He probably drives a slick, pitch-black car around town with tinted windows.

Jack looked down at his fingers and saw that they were beginning to look shriveled from the water. He turned off the shower and pulled back the shower curtain. Once he stepped out, he reached for his towel.

Where the heck was his towel?

Jack was in the third floor bathroom that he shared with the other orphans whose rooms were on the third floor. His toothbrush was here, but why wasn't his towel? As a matter if fact, _none_ of the towels were in the bathroom. Had they all been taken down to the laundry room to be washed? If so, why was Jack only noticing it now? Perhaps it was because he was too distracted by his past encounter with Pitch.

Still soaking wet, Jack stood naked in the third floor bathroom. The only garments with him was his pants and hoodie he had worn today and his white undershirt with his light blue boxers. Last night he had slept in his undershirt and pants, and he was glad to have made that decision. If he had slept while wearing his boxers like he usually does, Tooth would have seen him sleeping in his underwear and that would be embarrassing for the both of them.

Jack leaned against the wall and went over his options. He could try to tell one of the other orphans that he needed a towel, but that would involve him having to yell it out loud for everyone to hear. He could always try drying himself with the clothes that he wore today, but then they would have to dry in his bedroom where they'll only get cold and stiff. Besides, Jack didn't want to use his favorite (and only) hoodie as a towel. Reviewing his other options, Jack immediately discarded the idea of him running up to his room stark naked and hoping none of the kids would see him. He did not want to streak through the orphanage either. He could always stay in the bathroom until he dries naturally, but that would only resolve in everyone else banging on the door and screaming that he was taking too long.

With a sigh of disappointment, Jack knew what he had to do. He couldn't wait twenty minutes for his body to dry, there were no towels, he wasn't about to run out naked, and he wasn't about to announce his whole predicament to the orphanage. He didn't want to use his hoodie as a towel, but it was the only thing he could use. His pants would do no good while his boxers and undershirt was what he would be wearing to bed.

Hesitant, Jack leaned down and picked up his hoodie from the floor. It's soft blue fibers gave him comfort and he was having even more second thoughts of using it as a towel. Maybe he could just use his pants? Jack looked down and saw that his pants were dirty. Maybe he could just stay in here until he dries?

Jacky's thoughts were interrupted when an angry knock came from the door.

"Will you hurry up in there? Some of us have to pee!"

Jack recognized that voice, it belonged to one of the orphans who was in fifth grade at the elementary school. What was his name again? Kenny? No, Carter! Jack recalled the boy now. His name was Carter Smith, a rude fellow who was always crabby and raising his voice like the melodramatic thirteen year old boy he is.

"Carter? Is that you?" Jack asked through the door. If he told Carter to he him a towel, then it would save him from using his hoodie! Jack pressed himself against the locked door and called out again.

"Carter? Listen, I need you to do me a favor,"

"Who hell is this?"

"It's me, Jack Frost. I live in the attic right above your room. By the way, I can hear all those stupid romcoms you play on your laptop every night an if you keep talking like that no one will adopt you. You could stay here as long as me if you keep up that attitude."

Funny, Jack suddenly found himself acting like the mature adult. Pushing that aside, he continued talking.

"Hey Carter, there aren't any towels in here and I just showered so-"

"You took a shower knowing there weren't any towels? Ha! You _are_ an idiot aren't you? I would be laughing my arse off right now if I didn't have to pee so bad."

"Why don't you just use one of the other bathrooms?"

"Because the stupid girls here have claimed them as there own leaving me with two options; I can either come here or go take a wazz outside in the freezing cold."

"Well you can come on here and relieve yourself all you want but I need you to go grab me a towel first."

"I don't even know you! You're just one of the other kids here who I'm talking to through a bathroom door."

"I already told you, my name is Jack Frost. Ring any bells? I'm the oldest orphan here? Live in the attic? White hair?"

"Oh, you're that Snow White kid aren't you? The one with the white hair and chicken legs?"

"Hey! Who you calling chicken legs?"

Jack didn't know the people around here thought he had chicken legs. Was he really that skinny?

Jack looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and inspected his body that was still wet. He knew that he was thin before, but he never realized how scrawny he was until now. If he didn't know any better, he looked like he had some sort of eating disorder. He could clearly see his collarbones while his ribs were jutting out from his sides. Even his hip bones were sticking out. Jack was just now realizing that he was like a toothpick.

"Hey Captain I Take Too Long In The Bathroom," Carter yelled. "Are you done yet?"

Carter had started banging on the door again. Jack brushed his hand against his skin and was glad to see that he was dry enough to wear his clothes comfortably while not having to use his hoodie as a towel.

"Just a second Carter,"

"Hurry up you nincompoop! Are you _trying_ to make me pee my pants in the middle of the hallway?"

Jack had never socialized with much of the orphans, especially Carter. If this kid was going to be so disrespectful and impatient, why not keep him waiting for a little while longer? Jack was in no rush now that he was partly dry, and it wasn't like Carter didn't deserve to wait.

"Okay Carter, I am putting on my clothes and I will be out in a second."

"Finally!"

The sound of the floorboards creaking from where Carter was desperately holding it all in could be heard through the door. Jack could tell that Carter was probably dancing from having to go so bad and he could explode any minute. If this tween had to use the bathroom so bad, you'd think that he would have gone to another one by now. The girls should have finished using the bathrooms at least five minutes ago, but apparently the bathroom Jack was in was what Carter had set his mind on.

Jack made sure to take his time. He slowly put on his boxers, then his undershirt, and he gathered the clothes he had worn today. Once he was done, he looked in the mirror again and styled a few follicles of his hair while Carter was still impatiently waiting. He was going to bed after this, why not brush his teeth? After all, Tooth loved his teeth so much and she would be mortified if she saw any plaque buildup or cavities.

Now Jack lived in the attic of the orphanage that had three floors, making the third floor bathroom the one that he used. Jack picked up his white toothbrush and squirted out a small glob of spearmint toothpaste on the bristles. Over the sound of him scrubbing his teeth Jack could hear Carter groan outside. This would teach that loudmouth to call him chicken legs and to be so rude towards him. He already had a stupid nickname of being known as Snow White, he didn't need people running around calling him "Chicken Legs".

When he finally decided to leave the bathroom, Jack picked up his things and opened the door. Seeing that Jack was leaving, Carter shot past the teen and slammed the door shut. Jack just shrugged it off and walked up to his room. He pulled down the chain hanging from the ceiling and the ladder to the attic folded out from the ceiling providing him entrance. After climbing up the ladder, Jack pulled it up and shut the door so that no one else would crawl up and invade his privacy. Once this was done, he threw his day clothes in a pile near his bed and sighed to himself. It was Saturday night and he had spent all day with his new friends making eggs and then he came home to Pitch toying with his mind.

But the sincere look Pitch had while making his offer...

Whatever.

Jack walked over to the window in the attic and opened it. If he was going to start contemplating his day, he would do it in his favorite place in the orphanage. Well, technically it was _on_ the orphanage but it was still within the property range. Jack stuck his torso out the open window and grabbed the drainpipe off to the side. He pulled himself out and soon his legs were on the tip of the window sill. Jack continued to climb up the drainpipe until he reached the roof of the orphanage. Having a room where the window was a gateway to the roof was perfect for Jack, and that was the only reason why he liked living in the attic.

The stars were out in the night sky and twinkled above his head. He didn't care that he was outside in nothing but his underwear, his pants and hoodie were inside and he wasn't feeling up to climbing back in just to fetch them and put them on. Besides, Jack liked the cold. Frost was gathered on the gutter of the building and Jack grabbed onto it and pulled himself up onto the roof. The chimney to the complex was right next to him and he relaxed at seeing that he could finally think clearly to himself.

Jack slumped down and soon found himself lying on his back facing the sky above him. This is how he would spend most of his nights when he was younger, staring at the stars from the top of the orphanage. Of course, he was just a kid back then. He didn't understand how important having a family was or that if you fall asleep on the roof of a building and it starts to rain you'll catch a cold. Jack smiled to himself. Everything was so simple back then, even if he still had no friends or parents. He never had to worry about his future up until now when his birthday was the day before Easter. His birthday...his parents' wedding anniversary. Do his friends even know about his upcoming birthday?

The more he thought about his life, the more he found his thoughts straying back to Pitch.

Pitch had been making him so anxious back there, and it was just building up on him until he finally let it out by ranting to the man and leaving.

What if Pitch _was _right?

What if the only person you could trust was yourself?

Maybe being alone is better…there's no one around to hurt you.

Jack shook his head.

He must really quit his habit of asking himself these kinds of questions, especially since he was perplexed about actually wanting to know the answers. There were things in his life that made inquiries sprout up in his mind, but that didn't mean he wanted to know how to solve them. Some of the answers to his questions were actually scary whether they were right or wrong but he preferred not to find out.

But still…Pitch made him wonder.

Who _truly _cares about him? Who's just using him? Who's just waiting for him to fail so that they can point and laugh?

Jack stared up at the stars with a blank expression on his face. The only reason that his whole friendship with Tooth and the others had started was because of Mr. Ombric placing him with them as if he was just a wooden doll joining an incomplete set.

_Did_ he complete them?

Is he even good enough?

All of them take what they do as a hobby so seriously; maybe that's what Jack needs. Maybe he should just grow up and act his age and leave his childish antics locked away in his miserable past. Then he could have a new beginning with his new friends.

Everything that had happened so far, it was overwhelming. Jack was finally gaining attention from the people that he longed to befriend, but why was he still feeling like something was missing? Was it because he wasn't that close to them yet?

What if he doesn't deserve this?

Jack had messed up so many times in his life, and there were people out there who had it worse than him. There were children half his age who were lonely just as he was, except they could be starving or fighting for their rights or even be homeless.

Does he even deserve to have such great friends?

Once again, Jack shook his head. This is why he never liked being anxious, his own mind would just take him to some dark place and hold him there until he would fall asleep. None of this would even be happening if Pitch hadn't shown his face at the orphanage today trying to adopt him. Jack sighed to himself and focused on the starry black sky. This is really what he should be thinking about when he comes up to the roof, the stars. They were so relaxing to him, and the sounds heard throughout the night were so peaceful when the noisy daytime wasn't there to drown them out.

Jack suddenly found his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second. Since when did he become so tired? Maybe if he just shut his eyes for a few seconds he could open them back up and crawl back into his room. Jack wasn't that confident about sleeping on top of the roof while it was covered in frost, he could slide off any minute and break his neck in his sleep. Deciding to just shut his eyes for five seconds and put his hands behind his head, Jack stayed where he was. It was never too cold for him, and the wind only played in his hair as he found himself falling asleep and wondering what he would dream about tonight.

* * *

**A/N: okay so not one of my best chapters but i have 2 japanese exams to take this week plus finish 2 projects for my english class and im just glad that i updated today ;A;**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: okay so i dont remember when i i last updated, but i do know that it was a long time ago. school has kept me so busy lately but i took my first japanese exam today and my next one is thursday :T  
**

Chapter Eighteen

Jack's face scrunched up at the sound of chirping birds waking him up. He _really_ didn't want to wake up right now; he was sleeping so peacefully before.

Wait…did he ever go back inside?

Jack's eyes snapped open in realization as he jackknifed into a sitting position on the roof. He had fallen asleep on the roof! Looking around, he sighed in relief seeing that no birds had dropped anything on him and that no bugs had made any nests in his hair. His hair… it was still damp when he had fallen asleep on the cold Saturday night. Reaching up, Jack felt his white locks and found that they were stiff as they were etched in frost.

Oh well. It could be worse, though. One time when Jack was younger, he cried himself to sleep on the roof in the middle of winter. The next day he had woken up with frozen droplets plastered to his face. Even his eyes had frozen shut because of the tears. Jack remembered that anecdote well, and he decided that he had spent enough time on the roof.

Still in his undergarments that served as his sleeping attire, Jack climbed back inside the orphanage through his window that had been left open all night. His room was freezing cold but it didn't bother him one bit. However, there was still something on Jack's mind that both bothered and confused him.

Why hadn't he had any dreams last night? Was his brain too tired to conjure up his notorious fantasy?

Jack's mind had been so busy last night with dark and mindless questions, perhaps the reason why he didn't have any dreams was because there was no energy left. The only reason why Jack had stayed up so late thinking about his life was because of Pitch. But still, not having a dream last night isn't what was making the boy worry.

What if his dreams wouldn't come back?

He would still have dreams in his future, but what if he never dreamt of being the embodiment of winter ever again? What if he never dreamed about the guardians or being a magical winter spirit that was invisible to every mortal around him?

Jack liked his dreams. They could be creepy at times with how accurate they were to his life, but they were still fun to have with all of the fictitious adventures they provided for him. No, it was too early in the morning to become paranoid. He had nothing to worry about, dreams come and go all the time to everyone. Surely they would come back tonight.

Today was Sunday, his birthday was in two weeks on Saturday, the day before Easter. They still had to finish painting the eggs and stuffing them today, and Jack knew that they could get everything done in time. After all, they've all been working so hard for the past two days. Thinking about his friends today reminded Jack that Tooth was supposed to be bringing along her youngest sister. What did she say her name was? Tina? No, wasn't it Tiffany? The reason why Tooth's parents named their youngest and oldest daughters using names that started with the same letter baffled Jack, but he wasn't the one who had kids. Didn't Tooth have three other sisters that were triplets? What were their names? Jack thought that it would be slightly humorous if they all started with the letter T. That would be cool to have five children that all had something in common when it came to their labels.

It's only been one week and Jack has asked more questions to himself than school ever did. If he had one dollar for every pointless question he asked himself in his life, then Jack would have enough money to buy his own house. Not one if those ginormous mansions, but maybe a decent sized house with enough rooms for a single guest along with maybe one or two extra rooms for visiting guests.

He had no idea what time it was, but Tooth hasn't arrived with North and Sandy yet meaning that it wasn't time for him to leave yet. The only time telling device that Jack had owned was his alarm clock which was smashed when it was pushed to the floor on Friday. There could be old antique clocks in the boxes stored in the attic, but Jack had no time to go digging through dusty knick-knacks. Most of them belonged to Ms. Dawdson when she was the still the caretaker of the orphanage. She never wanted Jack to look through what was packed in the attic, so why did she leave them behind when Mr. Moon took her place? It was as if Mr. Moon just popped up out of nowhere and took Ms. Dawdson's job. Where did she go anyways?

Putting those inquiries to the side, Jack decided to get dressed. He picked up his blue pullover and slipped it on and then he put on the crumpled pair of khaki pants he had worn yesterday. They had laid in a pile on the floor all last night, meaning that there was nobody to fold them neatly and put away into his dresser. Jack barely even used his dresser. It just held a single white t-shirt, a pair of old cargo shorts, and an extra set of boxers. Being seventeen, Jack had learned to do his own laundry at the orphanage. He would wash his clothes every Sunday night so after today he'd have to go down to the laundry room in the basement and do his laundry even if it wasn't that much.

After walking across the attic and opening up the hatch in the floor, Jack climbed down the ladder. The white haired teenager made his way down the halls and was glad to see that the third floor bathroom was empty. It was a rare occasion when the bathroom would be empty in the mornings. Anyone who was awake could take a shower that was half and hour long or they could spend all day styling their hair. There was this one time when one of the orphans, Audrey Heffler, spent three hours occupying one of the first floor bathrooms on a Saturday morning. When she came out, she looked like she walked out if a beauty parlor. She was adopted the same afternoon and everyone was glad that she was gone so that they could finally use the bathroom again without hermaking it smell like perfume and nail polish.

Jack looked on the bathroom counter in search for his toothbrush. He had his toothbrush last night! How could he lose it in one night? Then again, at least twenty other kids shared the same bathroom with him. His toothbrush was white, so he should have easily spotted it by now. After five minutes, Jack finally located his toothbrush. It wasn't where he had out put it last night, so maybe Carter moved it as revenge for having to wait so long to pee.

Once he was done brushing his teeth, Jack leaned in and studied them in the mirror. Tooth was so happy when she looked in his mouth, but why were they so appealing? They were just white teeth, millions of people had them.

Jack soon found himself shrugging it off and walked downstairs. Other orphans were running past him and none of them even glanced in his direction. Being invisible to mostly everyone in the building wasn't really that bad as much as someone would think. There were times when Jack would wake up early in the morning all cranky and he wouldn't have to yell at anyone to leave him alone. One time when he was mad, Jack pushed one of the vases in the hallway down out of anger and nobody was around to notice. He was in content with himself until other children started to break all of the vases in the orphanage and he had to hear smashing porcelain throughout the day.

Finding himself in the kitchen, Jack grabbed a bowl out of the pantry and a box of cereal out of the cupboard. He sat down at the table where many other children were sitting and the only chair left was the seat across from Peter and Luke Adams. The two boys were both six years old and they were twin brothers. Although they were identical, you could easily tell them apart. Peter would be the one with his finger up his nose all the time while Luke was the one who just sat there and stared into space.

The twins were sharing a box of Lucky Charms together. Jack was about to pour out his own cereal when he saw Peter sneeze into the box he was sharing with his brother. Luke looked over and saw that Peter had sneezed out boogers into the Lucky Charms box. Shrugging, the six year old just closed the box back up and put it back in the cupboard without saying a word.

Jack still had his own box of cereal in his hand and he suddenly decided that he wasn't hungry anymore. If Peter would sneeze in a box of cereal and Luke would just put it away, who knows what could be waiting for Jack if he poured himself a bowl of cereal. He could accidentally eat snot and boogers for breakfast and that was something he had no intention to do. Jack just left his empty bowl on the table and walked over to the fridge.

He opened up the door and pulled out the jug of white milk from the shelf. There wasn't even enough milk to fill up half of the jug. Jack looked around. No one ever noticed him and there was barely any milk left, surely they wouldn't mind if he drank the rest of it out of the jug. Popping off the cap, he leaned his head back and held the jug up to his lips. He was still looking up as he closed the fridge door and he didn't see Mr. Moon standing beside him.

"Good morning Jack. Di-"

Jack was startled by Mr. Moon's abrupt presence and spit the milk out in revelation. The white liquid ended up being sprayed all over Mr. Moon's faced and doused the upper section of the tan suit he was wearing. Jack realized his mistake and quickly wiped his mouth of the milk.

"Mr. Moon! Oh uh, sorry about spitting milk all over you, but it was just an accident I swear!" If he hadn't just spat milk all over his new and mysterious caretaker that somehow knew more about him than he did, Jack would be laughing over how hilarious it was. However, that was not the case. "Seriously, I had _no_ idea that you were there and when you just suddenly spoke up I-"

Jack's apology was put to a halt as he was silenced when he saw Mr. Moon raise his hand. The stout man pulled out a white handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe off the milk from his face. "It is alright Jackson; I know that you meant no harm." he calmly remarked. "You were just taken by surprise, it happens to all of us from time to time."

"But-"

"I think you have more things to worry about, my dear boy."

Mr. Moon had almost laughed as he said that last sentence and it only made Jack more nervous. Mr. Moon didn't seem mad or ticked off one bit. He rather looked amused. Jack just stared at the man. This guy _had _to feel annoyed with him because who wouldn't be annoyed if someone spewed milk on you first thing in the morning? Maybe Mr. Moon was actually seething with rage on the inside and he just wasn't showing it. It was either that or he's just really polite which scared Jack even more. If he, a seventeen year old teenage boy, was going to be taken care of by an overly polite strange man who looked like he was in his late forties and said "my dear boy" sometimes, then that would surely spell trouble. What if Mr. Moon _was_ some sort of pedophile? Jackmade a mental note to go snooping around Mr. Moon's office later.

"Now, as I was saying, did you sleep well last night?"

Jack suddenly found his voice and spoke up.

"Yeah, I slept fine last night. My bed was nice and it was a peaceful sleep."

He wasn't going to tell Mr. Moon that he accidentally fell asleep on the roof of the building; the man would just lecture him about unsafe it was.

"Just out of curiosity, did you have any dreams last night?"

"Why?"

"Just being curious. A man of my age doesn't know everything about what goes on, and the more you know the better."

Mr. Moon smiled at Jack who just took a small step back. He seriously didn't want to be around Mr. Moon anymore, he was too creepy. Then there was his question that he had asked. When he said it he looked like he already knew the answer to it but he still asked him anyway. What does Mr. Moon know that Jack doesn't?

"Well, I didn't really have any dreams that much but I think it was because I was pretty tired. I did a lot of work yesterday and it was pretty exhausting."

"Ah, I see. Another thing, I made the right choice of startling you."

"What?"

"The milk that you were drinking, I was supposed to throw it out yesterday but it slipped my mind."

Jack looked down at the milk's label. It says that it had expired two days ago. How could he not have noticed? This was his second time drinking expired milk this week, he should be able to tell fresh milk apart from milk that was over its due date by now.

"One last thing Jackson, I suppose that you'll be spending the day with those friends of yours today. Just be careful out there, alright? You never know what may happen with all of those shady characters out there."

"Sure, but I'll be fine Mr. Moon. I'm almost eighteen, I can handle myself."

He was still feeling uncomfortable, but Jack nodded to his caretaker and left the kitchen. As he walked down the hall, he started to think about whether or not he should start avoiding Mr. Moon. Jack threw away the jug of milk into one of the trashcans on his way out and his hand grabbed the knob of the front door. North should come speeding down the road any time now, so Jack decided to wait outside for them. He turned the knob of the door and swung it open as he stepped out. As soon as Jack placed his foot on the ground, he remembered that he forgot something.

His shoes.

Groaning to himself, Jack stepped back inside. It was so annoying when he forgot to wear his shoes. Although he preferred winter, Jack liked spring too because he could run around outside barefoot. In the summer the grounds were too hot and during the fall he couldn't take one step without crunching a leaf in the process.

Jack sprinted up the flights of stairs on the first and second floor. He pulled down the hatch to his room and climbed up the ladder. As soon as he entered the attic, he searched around for his shoes. His blue eyes scanned the room until he finally spotted them lying next to his bed. The laces were a tangled mess, but maybe Tooth could retie them for him later.

Putting on his shoes, Jack climbed back down the ladder and ran through the halls. The aglets on his shoelaces tapped the hardwood floors as he dashed back through the orphanage. He was halfway down the last flight of stairs when he stepped on his shoelaces and he stumbled. Jack grunted as he tumbled down the last few steps and he felt his head hit the floor as he crashed down. For a second Jack just laid on the ground and winced when he felt his forehead. Hopefully he wouldn't get a concussion, that meant he would have to stay in bed for a few days.

The sound of the other orphans passing him by rang in Jack's ears. Every footstep that someone took on the floor throbbed in his head as he began to sit up. He should really learn how to tie his shoes. If they were properly laced, he wouldn't have somersaulted down half of the staircase.

Leaning against the wall, Jack steadied himself. His head was still pounding but otherwise he seemed fine. He didn't see any bruises on his arms or legs and he could still walk. Jack trudged back outside to the front lawn of the orphanage with his shoes on his feet. North hadn't arrived yet, so Jack would have to wait a little longer. His head still felt like it was being cracked open, so he picked up and clump of snow and stowed it in his hood. Flipping up his hood full of cold snow, Jack felt relieved when the cold substance eased his headache. After what seemed like five minutes, he felt better and he no longer needed the snow in his hood.

Jack put his hood down and shook the snow out of his hair. Even though it blended in with his hair, he didn't want anymore frost clumping his them together. Looking down he street, the pale teenager was disappointed to see that there was no red van zooming down past the neighborhood speed limit. The only thing he did see was sections of the snow on the ground thinning away. It was starting to warm up in Burgess and despite still having snow scattered throughout town, the warm weather of spring was approaching. That meant the cool white snow would be replaced with dusty yellow pollen.

Jack hated pollen.

Every year he would sneeze his brains out whenever he took a step outside. He would usually avoid the pollen at the beginning of spring by spending the first few weeks cooped up inside. Staying inside for too long made him feel like a caged animal at the zoo.

Jack glanced down the street again and still saw no cars coming. Not even the mailman was driving down the street. However, the mailmen didn't work on Sundays.

Bored out if his mind, Jack climbed on top of the mailbox to the orphanage. Maybe he could get a better look if he had a higher point if view. Squinting, he grew excited when he saw a red speck approaching. He knew it was North, he could hear his music blasting from the vehicle while he recklessly steered down the road. He didn't even get off of the mailbox. Jack stood on it and waved to them as they came closer and closer.

/

North was behind the wheel of his van while his passengers were in the back. Tooth's baby sister, Tiffany was riding with them and Tooth made sure that he would drive a little more smoothly. Tiffany was three years old so North agreed that he would slow down his driving skills but in the end it caused them to be late to pick up Jack from the orphanage. Sandy was napping in the back while Tooth and Tiffany were looking out the window.

"You'll love Jack, Tiffany. He's really nice and really fun so I'm sure that he'll be glad to meet you." Tooth said to her sister. When Tiffany was around strangers, she was usually quiet and timid. It wasn't until she was home did she really let herself loose and Tooth was hoping that that side of her sister would be shown when Jack was with them.

"We should be nearing the orphanage." North announced. "Try looking around to see if Jack is waiting outside for us."

"Alright, North. Did you hear that Tiffany? We're going to look for Jack. He has white hair and blue eyes so he should be easy to find."

Tiffany looked up at her older sister who was gazing out the window. Yesterday when Tooth came home, Jack was the only thing that she would babble about at dinner. Tooth literally spent ten minutes complimenting his teeth and then told them all how much fun he was to be around and how cool he was. She never talked that much about any of her other friends. Tiffany didn't know that much about Jack, but he sounded nice. She just hoped that he wasn't like one of Tooth's other giant friends. From what she could tell, one was as tall as a tree while another one who was even larger was a big as a boulder. Then there was that one that didn't talk. He was nice, but he took a lot of naps and Tiffany knew how important naps were.

Tooth was peering through her window and looked for any sign of the boy that she had a crush on. Jack had worn his blue pullover for the last two days; maybe he would be wearing it again today. "Is that Jack over there?" she asked. She could see a blue dot off in the distance and then it waved at them. As they got closer, Tooth realized that it was Jack but why was he standing on a mailbox?

North pulled alongside the orphanage and parked on the curb. Tooth opened the door and with Tiffany in her arms, she walked out of the vehicle to greet Jack.

"Hi Jack!"

"Hey Tooth, is that your sister?"

"Yup! This is Tiffany."

"You never told me how much she looked like you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's like a miniature version of you, like a Baby Tooth. She has the same eyes and hair, you two have the same nose, and the only thing that Baby Tooth needs is streaks in her hair and then she'd be your tiny clone."

"Excuse me?"

"Baby Tooth. I'm going to call her Baby Tooth now because of how much she resembles you."

"Seriously? That's so cute! What do you think, Tiffany?'

Tooth looked own at her sister and she smiled as she nodded. Tiffany liked the idea of being called Baby Tooth, it made her feel pretty and grown up just like her big sister. When she got old, Tiffany hoped to be just like Tooth and that she would have a big group of friends too.

"Alright then, I guess we'll start calling her Baby Tooth."

"Cool."

"Quick question for you, why are you standing on a mailbox?"

"Oh this?"

Jack motioned to the mailbox that he was still perched on and Tooth nodded.

"Well, I've been waiting for you guys to come and I got a little bored."

"Well come down then! You might fall and get hurt!"

"Okay okay fine. Sheesh, Tooth."

Jack leapt down from the mailbox and was now at eye level with Tooth. He was standing straight in front of her and now that she had a proper look of him, Tooth saw a bruise on the side of his right temple.

"Oh my gosh Jack! Why is there a bruise on your head?"

"Wait, what?"

Jack felt around on his head and could feel a spot where it hurt when he touched it. He had no idea that he had gotten a bruise, it was probably because he didn't look in a mirror after plummeting down the stairs…

"Where did you get that?"

"What my bruise?"

"Of course your bruise! What else is there?"

"Well… I kind of fell when I was coming down the stairs but don't worry about it, I'm fine now."

"Oh no! Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I just said I was. It's just a small bruise Tooth; it'll only hurt for a while."

"Well, I know a way to make it feel better faster."

"How?"

"Come here, my mom does this to my sisters whenever they get hurt and I do it to them too."

He didn't know what she was talking about, but Jack followed Tooth's commands and stepped closer to her. "Now look at me and hold still." Tooth ordered. Jack obliged and looked down at her while she stood on her tiptoes. He had no idea what she was doing until he felt Tooth kiss the bruise on his head. Then he watched her lift up Baby Tooth and the toddler kissed it as well. "There. Better?" asked Tooth with a smile on her face. Baby Tooth was grinning to herself just like her sister and Jack couldn't help but feel good about it. "Yeah, it feels a lot better now." he responded.

When he was young and still with his mom, Jack remembered how he would always fall out of trees and scuff his knee on the ground. His mom was there to make him feel better and she would kiss it. Having Tooth kiss his head just now brought back a wave of nostalgia for him, and it was the highlight of Jack's morning. "Boo-boo okay?" chimed Baby Tooth. That was the first time he had heard Baby Tooth speak since meeting her, and she even sounded like a younger version of Tooth. They had the same sweet voice that sounded so innocent yet caring.

"Yes Baby Tooth, my boo-boo is okay."

"Yay!"

Jack had just noticed that North and Sandy were waiting for them in the car and he didn't want to keep them waiting any longer. "You girls ready to go?" he asked them. Both of them nodded and together they climbed into North's van.

* * *

**A/N: I think my favorite part to write was when Jack spit milk all over the Man in the Moon.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:so when i first typed up this chapter the first half somehow got deleted and i had to retype everything D:  
**

Chapter Nineteen

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"What's with the camera?"

Jack pointed to the black camera hanging from Tooth's neck. It had a large barrel with a lens that you would look through before pressing down on a button to snap a picture.

"Oh this? I always have my camera with me when I'm out with one of my sisters. You see, they are all really young little girls in their early childhood, especially Baby Tooth."

Baby Tooth giggled to herself while sitting in Tooth's lap as she heard her nickname being used.

"I like to take pictures with my camera and put everything in a customized scrapbook for them. A lot of important and memorable things happen to kids when they're young, and I don't want my sisters to forget any of them. My mom did the same thing for me when I was their age and my scrapbook is back at my house. Another thing that I do is collect their baby teeth. It may seem gross to other girls, but when you look back on how each tooth was lost, you remember all of the good things in life when you were little. It's kind of like I'm keeping their childhood safe."

"Wow Tooth, that's pretty amazing. I never thought of it like that."

"Speaking of which, can I get a photo of you and Baby Tooth? I don't even think I have any pictures of you yet."

"Sure."

Baby Tooth was moved closer to Jack where they both smiled as they hugged one another. Tooth clicked the button down on her camera and the scene was saved in the device. "I wanna see!" Baby Tooth exclaimed when she realized that Tooth took a picture of her with Jack. "Okay Baby Tooth, just be patient." responded Tooth. She pushed another button on her camera and the screen reviewed the image she had just taken seconds ago. Jack leaned over to see the photo and was glad to see that Baby Tooth looked like she was having a good time sitting so close to him. Being around kids so much, Jack could tell when a child was fond of him, hated him, or when they didn't even notice him. He had met Baby Tooth just this morning, and he could tell that she had already taken a liking to him.

"I like picture!" Baby Tooth said as she saw the image of her and Jack. Her friend smiled to her and patted her head. "You can be really cute sometimes, Baby Tooth." Jack told the three year old. As he complimented Baby Tooth, the three year old sneezed and let out a squeak to herself. Her outburst confirmed Jack's statement and Tooth took another picture of her sister.

For the rest of the ride to Aster's house, Jack had kept Baby Tooth occupied by playing games with her. Tooth watched Jack cover his face with his hands and then reveal a silly face to make Baby Tooth laugh with amusement. She had never seen Baby Tooth so entertained by someone who was older than her before, the only people that she played with were her other sisters, her mom, and Sophie. Usually she would act shy around her other friends, but Jack was the first one to actually play with her and cause her to laugh.

"We're getting close to Aster's house, so you two should get ready to exit." North directed to Jack and Baby Tooth. He had heard them laughing in the back for the entire car ride and they even woke up Sandy at one point but he just fell back asleep. Who knew Jack was so good with kids?

/

Aster was in the front lawn of his house with Sophie. He had informed her that Tiffany would be coming with Tooth today, meaning that the two girls could play with each other. "Are they here yet?" she asked him. Sophie was sitting on a pile of snow and looking up to her brother. "Not yet Sophie, but they should be here soon."

The two of them had been waiting for the others to arrive for ten minutes. It was still cold outside, and Aster wanted to stay inside but Sophie insisted they go out in the snow. He didn't want to disappoint her, so now he was freezing his arse off while his friends would come along in North's van at any time.

"How about now?"

"No, not yet Sophie."

"Now?"

"No,"

"Now? Now?"

Sophie was jumping up and down in anticipation. She was very fond of Tiffany, she was so much fun and so was Jack. Aster was leaning against the tree in their yard and he perked up as the sound of tires screeching down pavement could be heard. "Well, what a stroke of luck, Sophie." he said. "They should be here any second now."

A red van came to a shrieking halt on the side of the road and the roaring engine was turned off. North stepped out with Sandy and Tooth while Jack came out with Tiffany in his arms.

"Good to see you lot finally decided to show up." Aster said to them. Jack put Baby Tooth down on the ground and she ran over to Sophie. As the two toddlers caught up with each other, Aster greeted Jack.

"I see you're up Frosty. Are you ready for today?"

"Sure am, Kangaroo."

Tiffany and Sophie had both heard Jack's nickname for Aster and they entered a laughing fit together. "Kangaroo! Hop hop!" Sophie said as she bounced up and down. Tiffany did the same and the sound of Tooth's camera clicking could be heard as the two girls were jumping around hand in hand. They both hopped over to Jack and they started to leap around him laughing.

"Hey Frosty, here's a word of advice, try to keep focused today, would ya?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm not the one with two ankle biters jumping around me like rabbits."

The two friendly toddlers were still surrounding Jack as he stood still. If he stepped out of line, he might trip over one of them.

Aster was about to say something else when the front door to his house opened and revealed his mother standing in the doorway. She was wearing a dark green coat with black pants and her purse was in her hand. "Sophie," she called out to her daughter. "Come now darling, it's time for your checkup at the doctors."

"Awwwwww. I don't wanna!"

"You can play with your friends later, now come on Sophie."

Mrs. Bunnymund walked outside and picked up her protesting daughter in her arms. Trying to keep her daughter in one place, she turned to Aster. "Do you think you can handle things while I'm gone, Aster?"

"Of course, Mum. We won't do anything."

"Alright, I'll be back in a few hours. Say goodbye, Sophie."

Sophie was still dissatisfied that she suddenly had to leave her friends, but her mother was taking her to the doctor's anyway. Tiffany ran up to Sophie and pouted before she said farewell to her friend.

"Bye-bye Sophie!"

"Bye-bye Tiffie!"

The two toddlers waved goodbye to each other as Mrs. Bunnymund strapped Sophie into her car seat. Tiffany continued to wave at Sophie as Mrs. Bunnymund's car backed out of the driveway and drove safely down the road. "Did you know that Sophie had a doctor's appointment today?" Jack asked Aster. Aster responded in a shrug. He thought that Sophie's checkup was next weekend, not today.

"Aster, can you come over here for a second? I want to ask you something." Tooth called from across the lawn.

Bewildered by what Tooth could possibly want to talk about so suddenly, Aster distanced himself from the others and walked over to Tooth.

"Watcha need, sheila?"

"Can I ask a favor?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, we've gotten so much done and we're ahead of schedule with the eggs. We're just painting the last few dozen and then stuffing them with prizes and candy, so do you think Jack and I could scope out the park? We need some hiding places, and everyone else knows the grounds so well but Jack is still new. So, what do you say?"

"I say you're just makin up excuses aren't you?"

"What? No!"

"I've known you for years, know what you're playing at, Tooth. You wanna spend some alone time with Frosty for the day, don't you?"

"That's not true at all! I just-"

"Listen Tooth, it's obvious that you're horns over heels for Frosty. Sandy told me everything that happened on Friday and why else would you rave on about his teeth?"

"Because he has nice teeth!"

"So? You say that all of us have nice teeth but I don't see you wanting to spend so much time alone with one of us. Face it Tooth, you're just making excuses. It's only a matter of time before Frosty realizes you're crushing on him. He's just too daft to notice it so soon."

Tooth sighed and glanced over to where Jack was playing with Baby Tooth. North and Sandy watched as he rolled around in the snow while Baby Tooth buzzed around him like a fly.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Sure is."

"Oh..."

"However, you do seem to have a point. It wouldn't hurt for Frosty to go look for hiding places and I don't think he'd get that much done today anyway with your sister around to distract him."

"What can I say? He has a knack for children."

"Yeah, so remember to bring Tiffany along with you guys."

"Is that a yes then? As in, Jack and I can go to the park today while you guys finish the eggs?"

"As long as you two two take Tiffany along with you. With my dad at work and my mom gone with Sophie, we can't be responsible for-"

"Baby Tooth."

"What?"

"Baby Tooth. It's Tiffany's new nickname. Isn't it cute? Jack thought of it."

"Well you would think anything is cute if Frosty came up with it."

"Hey!"

"Easy there Tooth, just pulling your leg. Now hurry up and get to the park."

"So you were serious back there?"

"Yep."

"Oh thank you thank you!"

Tooth expressed her gratitude by embracing Aster in a bear hug. She was so happy that he had agreed with her, now she could spend some time with Jack!

/

Jack took a break from Baby Tooth and looked over to where Tooth and Aster were talking. From where he was standing, they were beyond his hearing range but whatever it was, it seemed really important to Tooth. Aster smirked at her while saying something and Tooth blushed as her shoulders went limp. Jack furrowed his brow in trying to interpret what they were talking about. If he could read lips, this would be a whole lot easier.

The two of his friends were deeply in their own conversation while Jack watched from a distance. It wasn't until Tooth started smiling did she clap her hands together and hug Aster. The look on her face was one out of joy, and Aster must have said something to make her happy.

Something was stirring in the pit of Jack's stomach. He didn't know why, but for some reason he didn't like the thought of Tooth wrapping her arms around Aster because of something he said. He's never felt himself flare up like this before, was he jealous? Why would he be jealous? Out of all of the things that he was, Jackson Frost was not jealous. He just didn't like to witness what he was seeing right now. It was only a coincidence that it involved Tooth and Aster. Jack signaled to Baby Tooth that he was taking a break and he walked over to his other friends while North and Sandy stayed behind.

"What's going on here?" he asked as he interrupted their time together. Tooth was grinning as she turned to Jack and gleefully responded.

"Change of plans Jack, today you, me, and Baby Tooth are going to go scope out the park instead of spending all day cooped up with the eggs."

"What's the point in that?"

"We'll be able to locate some great hiding places for the eggs while Aster, Sandy, and North finish painting and stuffing the eggs."

"Then shouldn't we stay here and help them?"

"No need! We're way ahead of schedule this year thanks to an extra hand."

"Really? And who would that be?"

Jack smirked at Tooth and she playfully pushed his shoulder.

"You know what I mean!"

Both of them were jubilant knowing that they'd be spending the day at the park together, and having Baby Tooth tag along with them was also a real treat. As long as she had her camera with her, Tooth could still capture moments in Baby Tooth's life and take some nice pictures of Jack's smile as well.

Jack picked up Baby Tooth in his arms and turned to Tooth.

"How far away is the park from here?"

"Not that far. It's within walking distance and it'll only take maybe ten minutes to get to the park from here of foot and we can leave now if you want."

"Okay, then let's go."

They all bid farewell to the others and they began their trek of walking down to the park. With Tooth leading the way, Jack held Baby Tooth as they traveled down the sidewalk together.

/

There was still snow scattered on the grounds of the park. Baby Tooth couldn't hold still in Jack's arms and he set her down so that she could run over to the twisty slide a few feet away. As she climbed up the ladder and slid down the slide, Tooth and Jack stood a short distance away while chatting.

"So we're just here to find places to put eggs?"

"Yup! It shouldn't take that long, but we can still have some fun together while we're here."

"I think that would be fine."

Jack smiled at Tooth and she felt exuberant. Tooth had been friends with Jack for only two days and her feelings for him were still strong. "Toothie Toothie!" Baby Tooth exclaimed from the slide. She had moved from the twisty slide and was now sitting on a swing set with a smile on her face. "I wanna swing!"

Tooth agreed and was about to walk over to her sister when Jack stopped her. "Hey Tooth," he said. "You wanted to take some pictures of Baby Tooth, right? I can go push her while you use your camera to capture the moment or whatever you said earlier."

"I think that's a great idea! I don't have that much pictures of her playing."

Jack walked over to the swings where Baby Tooth was thankfully waiting while her older sister was standing in front of her with her camera ready for snapshots. "You ready, Baby Tooth?" Jack asked with his hands on Baby Tooth's back. The three year old nodded and Jack gently pushed her forward. She squealed with pleasure as she took off into the air on the swing. She pumped her legs and soon she didn't need Jack to push her anymore.

The clicks of Tooth's camera going off could be heard as Baby Tooth played throughout the day. Within the hours they spent at the park, Tooth had photographed her sister on the teeter-totter, laying on her back in the slide, and hanging from the monkey bars. Even though her original motive was to take pictures of Baby Tooth, Tooth had also snapped photos of Jack as well. He was acting like a kid when he climbed through the jungle gym and Tooth couldn't resist taking a picture of him. She even had pictures of him sitting on the fences and doing daring balancing acts in the trees behind the park. Being located in front of a forest, the park provided a numerous amount of things for people to climb on.

With her camera filled with images of Baby Tooth and Jack enjoying their time outside, Tooth decided to take a group picture of all of them. She placed her camera down on a log and set the self-timer. Her friend and her sister were sitting together on the slide and Tooth ran over to them. "The timer will go off in exactly ten seconds so be prepared and smile." she directed. They were sitting in a horizontal line from tallest to shortest. Jack was located at the far left, Tooth was in the middle, and Baby Tooth sat at the end. Jack looked over his shoulder at Baby Tooth who was looking back at him. He winked to her and she quietly giggled to herself knowing what he was about to do.

Tooth's camera clicked once again as it took the picture of the trio. Running over to her camera, Tooth looked at the screen to see her camera's playback while Jack followed with Baby Tooth. "How'd the picture turn out?" he asked with a mischievous grin on his face. Baby Tooth had the same look and Tooth frowned at seeing the picture.

"Jack! Did you stick your two fingers behind my head on purpose?"

"No, why would I do such a childish thing as that?" he said sarcastically. He looked down at Baby Tooth and she snorted at him.

"It was just a playful joke, Tooth. No harm done, and I think it'll give you a story to tell behind the picture. Besides, Baby Tooth seems to like it."

Jack brought Baby Tooth into the conversation and held her closer to Tooth so that she could participate.

"You liked it, right?"

"Yeah! Picture looks funny!"

Tooth blinked at her sister and Jack before focusing at her camera again.

"Well, having some silly photos would be nice…"

Now that Tooth thought about it, most of the pictures that she had taken was either someone posing in the middle of the frame or doing something naturally.

"Well, Jack, would you like to take some silly pictures with me?"

"Can Baby Tooth be in them too?"

"Of course."

Tooth beamed at Jack and her sister while she readied her camera to take more pictures. They spent another ten minutes together making faces into Tooth's camera and laughing together. A few of the parents around them stared at the odd group, but none of them seemed to notice. Baby Tooth pinched her cheeks and stuck out her tongue while Tooth snapped another photo. Once they were done, all three of them rested and sat down on the ground with their backs leaned against a large oak tree. Despite sitting on the hard ground speckled with half melted snow, they were still comfortable.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say something about looking for hiding places for Easter? Isn't that why we're here?"

"Yes, and I seemed to notice lots of areas where we could hide the eggs. How about you?"

"I'll figure something out."

With his hands behind his head, Jack slouched further against the tree. Baby Tooth was resting against his chest while Tooth was leaning on his shoulder.

"I think I may know why you actually wanted to come here, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

Tooth grew anxious. She did not want Jack to know that she had just wanted to come to the park just to spend some time with him; that would only ruin their platonic friendship. It would only be awkward if Jack spent all day with someone who had an unrequited love for him.

"You just wanted to get some pictures of Baby Tooth, didn't you?"

"Hmph? Oh yeah, you caught me red handed Jack ahaha."

Tooth let out a sigh of relief and lounged deeper along the trunk of the tree. She was lucky that Jack hadn't realized her feelings for him yet, Aster had already told her how "obvious" it was. Tooth wondered to herself how Jack wasn't able to hear her heart slam agaisnt her chest with each second passing them as they relaxed together.

"So Tooth, are you having fun so far?"

"How could I not? I'm having as much of a good time as Baby Tooth."

Tooth moved her hand to Baby Tooth and stroked her sister's head. Her eyes were closed and she was taking a nap on Jack.

"Hey Tooth, I have an idea about one last thing that we can do before we leave the park."

"What is it?"

"Well, you know how I told you and the others about how I can ice skate?"

"Yeah,"

"Do you still want to see me do it?"

"But you don't even have ice skates with you-"

"The orphanage isn't that far from here, I can probably dash to it and get my skates. It won't take that long Tooth, I promise. I'll just rush back and skate around on the frozen lake for a while and then we can go."

"Hmm… that sounds okay with me but please, hurry back as soon as possible."

"Don't worry Tooth, I will. Just one thing that I need to ask you about,"

"What?"

"Baby Tooth is still napping on me."

"Oh you're fine Jack. Just slide out from under her and you can go. Once she falls asleep Baby Tooth, is out like a light. Not even Armageddon can wake her up."

"Alright."

Carefully, Jack slowly slid out from the sleeping three year old. Once he stood up, he brushed the snow off of his pants and turned back to Tooth. She should be fine watching over her sleeping sister, and they're sure to still be at the park when he comes back. Nodding off to Tooth, Jack took off towards the orphanage.

* * *

**A/N: so updates will be a bit slow since now i have my geometry and earth science exams to worry about *lies on the floor and cries a puddle of tears*. math is my worst subject but at least im done with two of the four Japanese exams i have to take 0-o**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: HEY GUESS WHAT IM ALIVE ;A;  
**

**i think this is the longest its ever taken me to update and the reviews i get is what provides me with the motivation to type up chapters so thank you to everyone who has reviewed :) **

Chapter Twenty

Jack flung open the door to the orphanage. It had taken him five minutes to dash down from the park to the orphanage, one minute to run upstairs, and now he was finding himself climbing up the ladder. He had already been gone for approximately four minutes meaning that Tooth and Baby Tooth had been waiting for approximately four minutes.

He tossed aside a few dusty boxes and didn't care about whatever was breaking inside. The only thing on his mind right now as that he needed to locate his ice skates. They should be in one of these boxes, but Jack could barely remember which one due to the fact that he hasn't skated for so long. How many years was it? One? Two?

"You've _got _to be kidding me!"

Jack had torn open another box to fine that his skates were still missing. How many boxes were in the attic anyway? In his frantic searching, he had found a set of antique figurines, turned them into a set of smashed set of antique figurines, he had dug up an old pocket watch, a framed black and white photo, but he didn't even fine anything close to what he was looking for.

His ice skates weren't _completely_ his, he had just found them one day in the attic and he claimed them as his own. Nobody was using them anyways and he didn't see anyone's name written on them. It was on one of his past birthdays so they were a present to himself.

"Where are they?!"

Tooth and her sister were still waiting at the park from him; and Jack didn't want to keep them waiting any longer. It had already been ten minutes and he still hadn't found his ice skates.

"Finally!"

A victorious grin was on the hurried teen's face as he saw his pair of old ice skates in a cardboard box full of straw. He grasped the laces and lifted them up into the light. They seemed to be in a good enough shape for him to use, and the blades on the bottom were still sharp. He was about to turn away when he caught another glimpse of something else under the straw. Brushing it away, Jack found that another pair of old ice skates were laying at the bottom of the box. How long have these been here? In all of his years of ice skating, Jack had no idea that there were two pairs of ice skates in the attic. It was as if the second pair had just appeared out of nowhere like Mr. Moon.

Dozens of boxes as well as what they had been containing was scattered all over the floor. He would clean it up later.

Taking the extra pair of ice skates with him, Jack slung them over his shoulder and opened his window. It would be much faster to slide down the drain pipe rather than to run down the stairs. Jack looked out the window and saw a small pile of snow resting on the ground. He tossed the ice skates out the window before climbing out himself. His hands wrapped around the drainpipe while bringing his legs out. Sliding down the side of the building, Jack landed in the snow and picked up the two ice skates. His window was still open but it's not like anyone was going to break into the attic of Burgess Orphanage anytime soon. There was nothing to take that would spark anyone's interest up there anyway.

After taking a deep breath, Jack dashed back down the path with which he came from. He had his skates and was now halfway back to the park; so far so good.

/

Baby Tooth's eyes fluttered open as she yawned. She rubbed her eyes and saw that instead of resting against Jack, she was leaning on Tooth's lap. "Where did Jack go?" she curiously asked. She remembered being tired and when she closed her eyes, she opened them to see that Jack was gone and the sky was a different color. Wasn't it blue when they got here?

"Jack went to go get something but don't worry," Tooth responded. "he should be back any second."

"Okay!"

Baby Tooth perked up knowing that Jack would come back to them soon.

"Where is he?"

"He just went to the orphanage. You know; the place where we met him earlier this morning."

"Ooooh."

Tooth caressed her sister's nimble brown hair again as they waited for Jack to return. She looked up when she heard footsteps running towards them and was happy to see that it was Jack running to them with his ice skates.

"Hey girls," he huffed as he caught his breath. "I got my skates."

Leaning against the tree, Jack held up both pairs of skates that he had brought with him.

"Oh and Tooth, apparently I found another pair of skates and they're in decent shape so I brought them along just in case you wanted to skate too."

Jack's chest rose up and down as he was still resting against the tree. Tooth noticed how drained he was, and why wouldn't be? He had spent all day playing with an energetic three year old at the town park and then ran on foot to the orphanage and back just to get ice skates.

"Do you want to rest for a little bit, Jack?" she asked him. "You've been active a lot today, and-"

"Don't worry Tooth, I'm fine. So, do you think that you'd want to try the extra skates I brought?"

"Well… I never actually ice skated before except for once but that was a long time ago and I've been too busy to go skating with North and the others, but I guess I could give it a shot."

Jack smiled and Tooth saw his teeth shimmer under the sunlight. She almost wished that she had a pair of sunglasses so that she wouldn't be blinded by how polished his teeth were. They were like a mirror the way that they reflected any kind of light and they even sparkled like flawless pearls.

"I think you'll do well on the ice, Tooth. You already do an amazing job when you're dancing so your balance should be pretty good."

Tooth felt her face become warmer as she stood up with Baby Tooth.

"So Jack, do you want to go down to the lake now?"

"Sure, it should still be solid enough for us. It's in the forest just beyond the outskirts of the park."

"Well we haven't got all day, so we might as well go now."

Jack led the way to the frozen lake with the two pairs of ice skates slung over his shoulder. Tooth followed behind him with her little sister in her arms and she couldn't help but to feel eager knowing that she was about to watch Jack glide around on the ice. She made a note to herself that she would have to set her camera on its freeze frame setting to that she could get some shots of him in action.

"Are you excited to start skating again, Jack?"

"Yeah, it's been a while so I may be a little rusty on the ice."

"Oh I'm sure that you'll put on a major show for us."

He was probably the best ice skater in Burgess, so why wasn't Jack cocky with confidence? In every experience he had of skating on the frozen lake, Jack has _never_ had an audience, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous. Tooth had such high expectations for him and everything that she kept saying probably made Baby Tooth enthusiastic to see him in action as well. What if he let them down? He's never had his skills on the ice critiqued before and he's never even skated in front of females.

His heart was beating...

Isn't that what hearts do?

But it was beating faster.

And faster.

Why was is doing that?

Jack was only walking in the forest with Tooth and Baby Tooth and he's not _that_ anxious about skating in front of them, and they were just his friends so it didn't matter if they thought he was good or bad at ice skating. Was it because of Tooth? He shouldn't be able to fall for her yet, they only knew each other for two days and he's already thought about his conflicted feelings for her that may or may not exist. Out of all of the thoughts racing around his head as to why he was so anxious Jack decided that it _was _because of Tooth. If he was performing on the ice in front of someone like Aster or North Jack would feel fine and Baby Tooth was still a toddler so anything could amuse her.

However, Tooth was looking radiant today with her hair pulled back and her personality was caring while still having a sense of humor.

"Something the matter, Jack?" Tooth asked him. She noticed how his paced had decreased and his eyes were blank as he stared at the snow on the ground.

"No, what would make you say that?"

"You've been awfully quiet, are you nervous about skating for the first time after a while?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with me."

"I think you're lying."

"No I'm not."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

Jack and Tooth had started to tease each other now. It wasn't until Baby Tooth had chanted "Liar liar pants on fire!" did Tooth decide to get the scoop on her friend.

"C'mon Jack, you can tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"I know you're hiding something, _Snow White_."

"Don't you dare start calling me that!"

He knew that Tooth meant no actual harm by using his immature nickname, but he didn't want Baby Tooth to get and idea and start calling him that in front of the other guys.

"Well you're hair _is _as white as the snow and you look like you've never seen the sun."

"Tooth I swear I-"

"What is it, princess?"

"Oh come on!"

Tooth laughed while Baby Tooth giggled.

"Shall I continue Sn-"

"Nope!"

Jack covered his ears with his hands and darted ahead of Tooth, leaving her behind in the dust. The sound of two laughing teenagers and one toddler echoed off of the bare trees as they traveled through the bleached forest. Within a week or so the snow would melt and leaves would once again spring off the branches but it was still cold outside, meaning that the cold weather could still nip at your nose. As the trio ran through the forest they left behind a trail of footprints and they didn't stop until they finally reached the frozen lake in the middle of a wide clearing.

"When was the last time you were here?" Tooth asked while putting Baby Tooth down on the ground.

"It's been a few years I think. Maybe one or two?"

"Just be careful."

"I will."

Jack removed his shoes and slipped on his ice skates. He slowly stepped out onto the crystalline surface and kicked off from the shore. Tooth and her sister were still on the snow covered land and Tooth was fumbling with her camera so that she could take pictures of him in motion.

At first he had gotten off to a shaky start, but Jack soon found himself sliding on the lake and gaining speed. He smiled as the cold air whizzed around him. As his skates scratched the ice, Jack realized that he had forgotten how much fun it was to come out on the lake and skate around. Glancing over to Tooth, he saw that she had her camera pointed at him and was waiting for the right opportunity to take photos. At the moment he was just skating circles around the area, but now it was his time to show off was he was capable of.

Jack leaned to his right as he moved his legs to perform a figure eight. He was a little rusty, but that didn't stop Baby Tooth from applauding loudly at the bank of the lake. If they were amused by a dainty figure eight, then they were in for a real show today. He just hoped that Tooth's camera would be able to keep up with him, because she would not want to forget this.

Tooth and Baby Tooth stared in awe at Jack as he raced around the lake and he became a blur on the ice. It wasn't until he leapt into the air did Baby Tooth start cheering him on and Tooth's camera rapidly took pictures. Baby Tooth was blowing air out of her lips in a failed attempt to whistle and Tooth couldn't believe how skillful Jack was. He even skated backwards on one foot for a few seconds!

Taking another deep breath, Jack pumped himself on the ice and spun in the center. He felt slightly dizzy but decided to keep up with his act for his friends. Jumping into the air again, he twirled around one last time with his arms folded against his chest before planting himself back on the ice's hard surface.

His spectators were clearly aroused by his performance. Tooth's camera was on shutter and Baby Tooth was clapping as she bounced up and down. Now that he was done showing off, Jack toned down his tricks on the ice and skated backwards in a figure eight with his hands behind his back. Having years of practice, he knew every inch of the lake. His head was held high as he skidded to a halt near the shore causing sparks of ice to spray the ground.

The chilled air nipped at their noses as Jack returned to his friends. "So," he said to them. "What did you two think?"

"You were amazing out there!" Tooth told him as Baby Tooth agreed. They were obviously pleased with him and even the wind seemed to appreciate his work. Jack cold feel the wind blow through his hair and it cooled him off while he maintained his conversation.

"Did you take any good pictures?"

"More than enough! I'm going to have to make a compilation of all of your shots and I'll keep them in a book so that I can see them whenever I want."

If Tooth and her younger sister didn't admire Jack enough, they certainly did now. He was fun to be around, had an astounding smile, and his presence could brighten up any mood no matter what the occasion was. He was just the kind of person to always bring a smile to anyone's face.

Jack looked over Baby Tooth's head to see that the second pair of ice skates was still sitting in the snow.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yea?"

"Still want to go out on the ice with me?"

Jack held out his hand to his friend and she looked down at it in consideration.

"Well you make it look so easy…"

It seemed that Baby Tooth was deciding for her and Tooth found herself being shoved in Jack's direction by her sister.

"Okay okay, Baby Tooth! Calm down."

"I guess you've made up your mind, then." Jack remarked with a smile. "You don't have to worry about falling Tooth, I wouldn't let that happen."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Tooth stared into Jack's dazzling blue eyes. The look on his face was more persuasive than political television commercials and she soon found herself taking off her boots. Jack hoped that the ice skates would fit Tooth and he was glad to see that they at least stayed on her feet. They looked approximately half a size too big for her, but they were withstanding her weight and that was good enough for him.

Baby Tooth stared at her older sister link arms with Jack. She wished more than anything that she could go on the ice too, but she just had on a regular pair of toddler shoes designed for outdoor play and not for skating on frozen lakes.

Nervously, Tooth allowed Jack to escort her onto the lake and she slowly took baby steps forward. She was slightly shaking but she had managed to go six feet out onto the ice and not fall on her face yet. Jack gently let go of Tooth and permitted her to attempt walking on the ice without his support. After moving even further, Tooth glanced back at the shore where her sister was obediently watching and realized how far away they were. Her sudden awareness caused her to lose her balance for a split second and Tooth let out a high pitched yelp as she felt herself trip.

Jack was automatically at her side and aided Tooth by wrapping his arms around her waist before she could fall backwards. If anyone else had seen them, it would seem like Jack was dipping Tooth down low.

"See, Tooth? I told you I wouldn't let you fall."

Tooth was looking up at Jack while laying in his arms and she blushed at seeing the sun in the sky shine around his head. The sun formed a crown of white light around his white hair and Tooth softly kept her gaze upon him, not even bothering trying to say the words that were caught in her throat.

Baby Tooth held Tooth's camera in her hands and clicked the button on top. She didn't mean to take a photo of what looked like Jackson Frost dipping Toothiana Fairie down low for a passionate kiss while standing on a frozen lake, but she hadn't even realized that she had taken a picture in the first place.

Jack kept his eyes on Tooth as he assisted her into getting back on her feet properly. "Do you want me to help you move around?" he asked with is voice as playful as ever. He didn't know why, but some part of him was really hoping that she would agree so that he could hold her hand while she tried to skate.

"I think I'd like that, Jack."

With Jack's hand locked in hers and their hands together, Tooth steadily put one foot in front of the other. Jack had already prevented her from falling once, and Tooth felt as if she had nothing to worry about while on the ice. It could crack beneath their feet and she knew that Jack would save her. Being so focused on not flopping on her face, Tooth didn't realize that Baby Tooth was still tinkering with her camera and its many functions. With each passing second Baby Tooth was unknowingly zapping photos of her sister holding hands with Jack.

Ten minutes had passed since Tooth walked out onto the ice, and Jack decided that it was time for her to advance to the next step of ice skating. "Okay, Tooth," he said. "I'm going to let go on the count of three."

"Wait, I-"

"You've already had a good beginning; you should be able to pick up everything else naturally. On the count of three, I'm going to give you a little push to start you off."

"Okay…"

"Ready?"

"I think so."

"One,"

Tooth held her breath.

"two,"

She was having such a pleasant time having Jack latch onto her, did he have to let go so soon?'

"three!"

Jack forced Tooth forward and she kicked off. She mimicked Jack's movements and used her skates to propel herself as she glided on the lake with her white haired companion instructing her.

"Don't stare at the ice, just keep looking straight ahead and let your body do the thinking." he said quoting Tooth from when she was telling him how to dance. Gears turned in Tooth's head as she followed his advice and soon she was skating at the same pace that Jack was. Baby Tooth was clapping as she saw her big sister ice skate and they were all happy until realization struck Tooth.

"Jack,"

"You're doing great, Tooth. Just-"

"How do I stop?!"

No one had informed her how to brake on the ice, and she was far from figuring it out on her own. Jack knew that Tooth's mind was becoming cloudy with panic which meant that she would lose her focus and slip. He was about to tell her how to stop when Tooth decided to try to maneuver it on her own. Being so experienced with ice skating, Jack knew from Tooth's stature that she was about to plummet onto the cold, unforgiving ice. He _did_ teach himself how to ice skate on his own after all. The last thing that Jack wanted was for Tooth to fall and get bruised, he didn't even want her to break a nail.

"Hold on, Tooth!"

He acted fast while Tooth didn't even get a chance to respond as her arms started to aimlessly flail while her balance on the slippery glassy surface vanished. Jack was the closeted object for her to grab within her reach and that is exactly what she did as her hand grasped his blue hoodie. She ended up bringing both of them down as they tumbled onto the ice together.

Jack was the first to hit the crystal-like ice, and Tooth followed after. She grunted as she landed on top of him and her nose slammed against his throat. Baby Tooth captured the moment and the image of Tooth resting on Jack was saved into the camera's memory.

Within a second Tooth had become fully aware of her position with Jack and stammered out an apology while getting up.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Jack!" she stuttered while her hand clutched her sore nose. Jack coughed once and changed into a sitting position while Tooth was on her knees.

"Whoa slow down there Tooth, you okay?"

"I-oh…yeah I'm fine."

She had just pulled him to the rock hard ice and her nose had smacked into his throat and Jack was wondering about _her _well-being? He was the one to hit the ice not her!

Jack aided Tooth to get her back on her feet.

"I think that's enough skating for today."

"Yeah."

Their hands were interlocked once again as they retreated back to the shore and both of them felt warm inside from their recent contact with each other. "You're a really good teacher, Jack." Tooth softly complimented to her friend. "I never would have gotten that far if one of the other guys who knew how to ice skate were teaching me."

North was the second best at ice skating compared to Jack while Sandy was third and Aster was dead last. The first time North had dragged him out on the ice he was slipping and sliding all around and he fell at least twenty times before giving up. Aster didn't even like to step foot on the ice if it meant he had to do more than just stand still on it.

Baby Tooth greeted them when they stepped off of the lake and the two teens removed their skates. Jack put his shoes back on and looked over to Tooth with a crooked smile on his face. The knots in his shoes had come undone again. Tooth took one glimpse at Jack's shoes and pursed her lips at him until they were nothing but a thin line. Baby Tooth snickered into her hands as she watched Tooth bend down to tie Jack's shoes. Once his laces were tied, Tooth picked up her sister and her camera. Jack picked up both pairs of skates and slung them back over his shoulder.

"Are you ready to go, Jack?" Tooth directed to Jack. The boy nodded and they soon found themselves trekking back through the forest.

/

It took them fifteen minutes to walk through the forest, get out of the park, and back onto the sidewalk parallel to the surrounding streets. Buildings surrounded them as they journeyed on foot through the small town in the middle of the day. They were side by side as they walked and Tooth heard Jack's stomach growl like a starved wolf closing in on a rabbit with a limp.

"Jack,"

"Yeah?"

"Did you even eat anything for breakfast?"

"Do you want to know the whole story?"

"We have the time."

"Okay so, I was going to have some cereal but then one of the kids at the orphanage sneezed into the box and his brother just put the box back meaning that they could have sneezed in the other cereal boxes and I wasn't going to take any chances."

"Gross."

"So since I wasn't going to eat anything, I just had some milk but it was only in there for maybe two seconds before Mr. Moon startled me and I ended up doing a spit take."

"Who's Mr. Moon?"

"The new caretaker. He's this creepy and mysterious guy who knows way too much information than he should."

"How does he know so much?"

"He said something about reading my file."

"Oh."

"But the point is, no, I didn't eat anything."

"Well, would you like to get something to eat then? There's this small café around the corner where we could grab a bite. After all, we can go back to Aster's house at any time."

"But I have nothing to pay with and-"

"No need to worry, I can pay."

"Are you sure? Because I can maybe scrape up some money to pay you back with later."

"You don't have to, my parents get a lot of money so I'll just take care of everything."

"Really? Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Tooth led the way and Jack followed her. The two pairs of ice skates clinked as he walked down while he couldn't help but being uneasy about Tooth paying. She was the girl and Jack was the guy, meaning that he was supposed to pay. If Baby Tooth wasn't with them, the circumstances they were under would make it seem like they were on a date. But this wasn't a date; it was Jack spending some quality time with his very close friend who happened to be of the opposite gender along with her three year old sister.

The wind around them evolved into a gust and it pried the remaining leaves off of the surrounding trees. They danced through the air as they rode the air currents past Jack and the other girls. It was as if the wind followed Jack wherever he went acting like his escort. Baby Tooth was becoming restless in her sister's arms and Tooth placed her back on the ground where they held hands together. Even though Baby Tooth had a larger attention span than Sophie, Tooth still didn't want her sister wandering off into the streets. There was traffic on the roads and any car that came driving down the road could easily flatten them.

Leaves were still being blasted past Jack as he was still deep in thought. He was focused on one topic and he still didn't know what to do about it. Was his body trying to tell him something? Did he have a crush on Tooth? She was as lovely as a fairy, an amazing person in general, and she was the first person to reach out to him besides Sandy. She was even in his dreams so maybe it was a sign that they were destined to be together.

He was so lost in thought that his walking pace was decreasing and he fell behind Tooth and Baby Tooth. His gaze was kept on the cracks in the sidewalk while everything taking place in the background was tuned out from his senses.

A discarded newspaper hitched a ride on the wind and was blown in Jack's direction. It flew above Baby Tooth's head and hugged Jack's face. The wind was blowing against him and Jack put down the ice skates while he wrestled with the large piece of black and white paper to get it off. Baby Tooth turned around to witness it and Tooth soon stopped walking and spun around to see that Jack was struggling to remove the newsprint. The wind was still strong as they both laughed to themselves seeing how much difficultly Jack was facing.

Jack's vision was obscured by the newspaper and he eventually stumbled off of the sidewalk and onto the road. He was oblivious that he was placed in the path of incoming traffic and the newspaper crinkled by his ears, blocking out his hearing. Everything was happening so fast, and he was unaware of the truck speeding towards him.

Jack managed the tear the newspaper off of his face just in time to hear Baby Tooth shriek as he saw the truck come closer and closer to him. The driver was blasting their horn while the truck wasn't even close to slowing down or stopping. He didn't have any time to think before Tooth gripped his hood and heaved him out of the road, away from the path of the truck which was only a foot away from crushing him.

Still trying to piece everything together, Jack gave Tooth a look of gratitude as she wrapped her arms around him. "That must have been the most terrifying thing I've ever seen!" she cried into his ear. "You could have been killed!"

Jack was in shock. He had removed the newspaper to see a truck approaching him and Tooth had pulled him back before he could even comprehend what to do.

She saved him.

Tooth just saved his life.

"I…."

He honestly did not know what to say. If Tooth was a second late, he could have lost his life.

Baby Tooth was soon at his side and she was clutching his leg as if he could disappear at any given moment. She was weeping into his pants knowing that he could have left her forever while Tooth was still hugging him.

What was he supposed to say? Jack squirmed out of Tooth's grip and noticed how the sunlight shined down on her as if it were a spotlight. If he were in a movie, a chorus of angels would be singing as he gaped at Tooth under the sun.

"I…thank you."

"Just promise me that you'll be more careful, okay? That whole thing that just happened was horrifying. I don't know what I'd do if you just died right in front of me."

Baby Tooth was still sobbing into his leg as Jack felt his heart slam in his chest. The way his emotions reacted to Tooth was no longer rocket science to him. From making him feel like a swarm of butterflies was flying around in his stomach to causing him to blush, everything was so clear to Jack now.

He _did_ have a crush on Tooth, and it took almost being run over by a truck to figure that out.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: hey guys just a small little note before the chapter. I'm not trying to be rude or mean, but I hope some of you guys know that I can't always update all the time. right now I'm stressed enough with school finals and homework, and I don't really need people telling me to update again as soon as I post a new chapter anh how i should hurry up all the time.**

**again, my sincere apologizes if I don't update whenever you want me to but it's my fanfiction that I update on my own time :/**

Chapter Twenty One

They were all still shaky from what had just happened and they were glad when they reached the café. Tooth knew that her three year old sister's nerves were still rattled and for once she was going to let Baby Tooth have something sugary to calm down.

Jack held open the door for the ladies and he followed after them once they were inside. Everything for him was changing and it wasn't just his social status. Staying isolated from surrounding peers for so long never gave him the chance to get to know anyone, meaning that he had never had a crush on somebody before. What was he even supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? Jack may not be a romantic when it comes to love but he did know one thing about having crushes.

He cannot tell Tooth about his crush on her.

Obviously he wanted to be with Tooth, but it would be too sudden and awkward if he just blurted out his feelings for her now. Tooth probably doesn't even have the same feelings for him. Jack has only known her for two days and the hours that they've spent together this morning. He knows so little about her and she could only like girls for all he knows.

"What do you think about sitting over there, Jack?"

The sweet sound of Tooth's voice snapped him out of his contusion and Jack glanced over to see Tooth pointing to a table next to a window. There were two chairs on each side of the rectangular table and a napkin holder rested on top. "Yeah, we can sit there." he responded.

Baby Tooth was the first to sit down. She was at the table in the blink of an eye and she planted herself in the seat closest to the window where a view of the small town was on display. Every few seconds she would tremble when she'd see a car drive down the road but she would calm down when she looked at Jack to see that he was still there. He's the best person that she's ever met, and she didn't want him to leave so soon.

Tooth took a seat next to her sister leaving Jack the only option to sit across from them. He was disappointed that he couldn't sit down next to Tooth, but it was better for Tiffany to be with her big sister after today's events. The boy soon found himself twiddling his thumbs and looking around the cafe while they waited for someone to come serve them. He's never been in this place before, but from the looks of how clean and neat everything was he assumed it was new.

"Can I get you two lovebirds anything?"

A perky waitress walked up to them with large glasses and a notepad. Her uniform was just a white dress shirt and a red, pleated skirt that made her look like a high school student. Tooth decided to order for her sister and told the waitress that Tiffany would have a cookie and a glass of milk. She's been to this joint hundreds of times with her other sisters, so she was fully experienced with what they served. "And I'll just have a glass of water." she stated, finishing her and Tiffany's order. Jack watched the waitress nod and scribble everything down on her notepad. She flicked her long, black hair behind her shoulder and turned to Jack. "What about you, sir?" she asked. Jack looked at her name tag and saw it read "Jade" but other than that he had no idea what to do.

"I'll have um..."

He couldn't remember the last time he went out to eat something. The last time he was at a place like this must have been when he was still living with his mom back when she cared. He didn't even know what they served here.

"Well, I've never been here before so..."

"Ah, I see. Shall your girlfriend order for you then?"

"What? No! I mean, not to your question but, she's not my girlfriend. She's just my friend who's a female and-"

Tooth watched Jack stammer over his words in a hurried tone. She's never seen him so nervous like this, but if she came close to dying today she would be jumpy too. He was probably still trying to get over the whole incident with the newspaper and the truck.

As Jack continued to make excuses, Tooth noticed that he was blushing now. She never knew how cute he looked when blushing until now. His skin was so pale, so the color painted on his face made him look like a toy doll that a child would play with. If Jack didn't look so anxious, Tooth would have taken a photo.

"Jack will just have your best recommendation today." she interjected. "We just came back from something frazzling, so something sweet would be nice for him."

The waitress named Jade nodded and began to list a number of sweet treats in front of Jack.

"We have cookies and cake but today we have a special in snow cones. I know it's chilly outside, but it's nice and warm in here." she said. "Would you like a rainbow snow cone?"

Not wanting to stay in an awkward situation any longer, Jack just shrugged and agreed. He liked to eat things cold anyways.

Jade nodded off to them and spun on her heel. She walked across the cafe and disappeared behind a door leaving Jack alone with Tooth and Baby Tooth. They all sat in silence for a moment before Tooth spoke up.

"I think I'll take a quick trip to the restroom." she stated. "Jack, will you watch over Baby Tooth for me?"

"No problem, Tooth."

"Alright. Keep a cool head while I'm gone, mkay?"

"Sure thing."

Jack waved at Tooth who winked at him as she walked off. He was mesmerized by her as she swung her hips while walking and she even seemed to have an extra skip in her fluid steps. As soon as she turned the corner, Jack let out a sigh and found himself banging his head onto the table.

"I am such and idiot!"

He had just sat there babbling like an idiot in front if Tooth as if he didn't know how to speak English. It was all because if that stupid waitress. If she hadn't kept calling Tooth his girlfriend, then he never would have gotten flustered. Tooth probably thought he couldn't handle himself now.

He was just one big idiot.

If there was a kingdom full of idiots, Jack would be the queen. That's how much of an idiot he is.

"Did you see all that?" he asked Baby Tooth. The three year old shook her head and acted as if she didn't witness her friend make a complete buffoon of himself. Jack only sighed again and his forehead was met with the hard surface of the table. Baby Tooth only giggled at him. "You silly." she said with a grin. Jack removed his head off of the table and blinked at her.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Something wrong?"

Baby Tooth had her head tilted to the side. Jack wiped his face with his hands and toot a deep breath.

"I don't know..."

"Tell me! Tell me!"

He could tell by Baby Tooth's enthusiasm that she was interested. She was a girl, maybe she could help him out?

"Okay Baby Tooth, can you keep a secret for me?"

"Yeah!"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone this."

"I promise!"

"Cross your heart?"

The toddler nodded and moved her finger over her heart in a cross motion. She looked dead serious.

"Alright, here it goes. I... I like your sister."

"Toothie?"

"Yeah."

"I like her too."

"No, I mean that I really_ really_ like her. As in _like_ like."

It took a second for the child to comprehend what Jack was saying to her before she gasped and cupped her hands to her mouth. Then she smiled at Jack and formed a heart with her hands.

"Heehee."

"Just, please _please_ don't tell her, okay? You promised you wouldn't and she can't know that I like her like that."

"Jack and Toothie, sitting in a tree,"

"Baby Tooth don't you dare-"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"No no no!"

The flustered teenager reached across the table and placed his hand over Baby Tooth's mouth. His hand covered up a majority of her young face but Baby Tooth was only giggling to herself again. A few people were staring at a boy with white hair sprawled over a table with his hand on a three year old's face but Jack didn't seem to notice. For someone so young, Baby Tooth sure had a big mouth.

/

Tooth leaned her head back on the bathroom wall and slid down to the floor. "Keep a cool head?" she said to herself. "Ugh! I'm such an idiot!"

She proceeded to bury her face in her knees while regretting everything she had just done. It was her fault that Jack was so clueless when trying to order. He's never been here before, so of course he wouldn't know what they serve! Tooth didn't even think to inform him about what they serve here, she just let Jack sit there and stammer while feeling stupid. But still, he looked so cute when he blushed...

Then there was his electric blue eyes... they were like gemstones. Tooth loved how they gleamed mischievously in the light like an irradiated sapphire. The way they glistened made his white wisps of hair stand out in a crowd and his teeth were the most perfect thing Tooth has ever seen. She loved teeth, and Jack's mouth housed her favorite set. Every tooth of his was flawlessly aligned and they were whiter than freshly fallen snow. They even shined bright like a night light when he laughed.

Not to mention his personality. He certainly brought out the best in people. Tooth had never seen her little sister act so outgoing around anyone. In fact, she didn't know that Tiffany had it in her and the only way she found out was because of Jack.

If only he felt the same about her…

Tooth no longer had a crush on Jack, she was in full scale infatuated with him.

Not trying to act vain or anything, but Tooth thought that she had a decent shot with Jack. It wasn't like he was out of her league or anything. What league would he be in anyway? Whatever league he was in, it was close enough to make Tooth's heart melt.

/

"How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"That you like Toothie."

"I-"

"Mommy says that boys act silly when they like someone."

"Is that why you called me silly earlier?"

"Are you going to marry her?"

"What?"

"Are you gonna have kids?"

"Uh…"

"Where do babies come from anyway?"

"The stork."

"Where does the stork get them?"

"Clouds. That's why people call babies a gift from above."

He's only been talking with Baby Tooth for ten minutes and she already seemed to know more about love than he did. In a matter of seconds she had changed the subject from his crush on Tooth to where babies come from. Jack didn't know much about families, but he did know how babies were made. His parents weren't around to give him "The Talk" so he found out how children were actually made during his health class at school.

But actually_ marrying_ Tooth and having kids with her was going too fast for him. He had only realized his feelings for her today; he can't start thinking about proposing or making babies with her. All he knew was that he was in love with her, and that he had no idea how he should tell her. If he just randomly walks up to her and confesses his feelings then she'll only freak out and their whole platonic relationship would be ruined.

Jack hated being stuck in the friend zone.

What was stopping him from confronting his feelings to Tooth the most was that he was terrified at what she would say. Just thinking about how she could react was making Jack shake with anxiety. She could shatter his heart with only a few words and then they would spend the rest of their friendship together in awkward disappointment.

Tooth was the only thing on his mind right now and he couldn't stop thinking about how she made him smile or how much his life had improved now that she's a part of it. They had created splendid new memories together, and Jack didn't want to lose her for a second. He couldn't imagine going back to his old life without any of his friends and he didn't want to find out if he could. He had spent too long being a wallflower on the sidelines, actually being out in the field was more fun than he had imagined.

"Hey guys, I'm back!"

Jack looked up to see that Tooth was back from the bathroom with her usual smile on her face that made him feel warm inside. She had redone her makeup so now she was looking even better than she did before. Not that she needed makeup to look breathtaking.

"Hey Tooth," he replied as she took her seat by her sister. Baby Tooth was full of amusement and had to keep her legs crossed just to stay calm. She knew something about Jack that Tooth didn't, and it was a super-secret that she couldn't tell anyone. "Something wrong, Baby Tooth?" Tooth asked. "It looks like you have to use the bathroom."

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no potty for me."

Jack gave a look at Baby Tooth and signaled that she has to act normal despite knowing his secret. He can't have his love life ruined by a three year old. When Tooth looked away, Baby Tooth nodded to him and zipped her lips. They didn't even see their waitress, Jade, walk up to them with a smile on her face.

"Here's your order!" Jade said as she brought everything they had requested on a brown tray. "A glass of water, some milk and a cookie, and one rainbow snow cone."

She set everything on the table and bowed to them before leaving them in peace. Baby Tooth picked up her cookie and broke it in half so that she could stick it in her milk while Tooth only sipped her water. Jack wasn't feeling that hungry anymore since his stomach was currently filled with butterflies, but he hadn't eaten anything all day and Tooth knew it. Not eating anything would only worry her and he can't have that happening. Looking down at his bowl holding his snow cone that was painted with every shade of the color spectrum, Jack realized how it looked like so much compared to what Tooth had ordered. She only sat in her seat with a cup of water while everyone else had something that they could actually eat.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna split my snow cone? There's a lot of it in the bowl and you just have a cup of water, so I was thinking that we could share it."

"Well, eating all of that by yourself could be harmful for your teeth, but I think you should be fine if you only ate half. So sure, we can split it."

Overall, Tooth was taken back b Jack's request. He wanted to share his snow cone with her? She looked down at her cup of water and decided having something with a better flavor would be nicer, and they were all just having a good time today so why not? Tooth grabbed an extra spoon from the counter and sat across Jack who was waiting for her to return. He had manners; he was going to let the lady take the first scoop of the colorful shaved ice.

Tooth felt her face heating up and dug her spoon into the snow cone so that she could use it to keep cool. Her spoon brought up a clump of ice bathed in lime syrup while Jack had dug his spoon into the blue section of the snow cone. Baby Tooth had already finished her cookie and milk and was now watching her sister share a snow cone with Jack. If she didn't know any better, it looked like they were on a date. Deciding it was too awkward to eat in silence, Tooth started a conversation.

"So Jack, how do you like this place so far?"

"Not too shabby. The snow cone tastes good and the service isn't that bad."

"Yeah, this snow cone does taste pretty good. You know, for a bunch of shaved ice coated in sugary syrup. Just promise me that you'll brush your teeth twice tonight, okay?"

"Don't worry Tooth, my teeth will be fine."

Jack winked to Tooth as he shoveled another spoonful of ice into his mouth. Even with all of the dyes in the snow cone his teeth were still as white as pearls. "So what are we doing once we're done here?"

"The idea is that we just head back to Aster's place. The boys should have handled everything without us, so I'm sure we're fine."

"Okay. What about next week?"

"Just make preparations to hide the eggs in the park."

"Alright."

Baby Tooth watched them eat together. They were smiling at each other, making eye contact, and she could just picture them getting married. If they did have a wedding, Baby Tooth hoped that she could be the flower girl.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: hey sorry for not working on this sooner. on monday i found out that im allergic to cherries during a party at school so i spent the rest of the day and tuesday suffering DX but i feel better now so heres the next chapter**

Chapter Twenty Two

"I'm not kidding Tooth, your tongue is green!"

At hearing these words from Jack, Tooth looked into the lens of her camera to see her reflection. He was right; the color of her tongue was altered into a light shade of green. She wasn't the only one to be affected by the dyes of the snow cone, Jack was also a victim. A few seconds ago Baby Tooth had pointed to his mouth hollering that his tongue had turned blue which led to him stretching his tongue out to get a look for himself.

"I think we've had enough for today." Tooth admitted while sticking her spoon in the remains of the flavored ice. Jack agreed with her and left his spoon next to hers while Baby Tooth sat in her seat obviously amused by the spectacle.

They had spent a full hour in the café and the sky outside was beginning to darken. After paying for their order, the small group left the café together in high spirits. Tooth with her camera, Jack with the two pairs of ice skates that he had brought in, and Baby Tooth with a new secret. "Hey Jack," Tooth piped. "I think I'll call Aster and tell him that we should be heading back soon."

"Okay. Tell the kangaroo that I said hi."

"Sure thing."

Pulling out her cell phone, Tooth dialed Aster's number while Jack and Baby Tooth walked ahead. Aster's phone rang twice before he picked it up.

"'Ello?"

"Hey Aster, Jack and I should be back soon with Baby Tooth. How are things with the eggs on your end?"

"Actually, we've pretty much got everything done while you and Jack were off falling in love."

"Wha-no! That's not- well, I-"

"C'mon Tooth; Frosty is the only one dense enough to not realize it yet and the only reason for that is because he's probably never talked to a girl before. I bet your sister probably figured it out too."

"What would a three year old know about love?"

"Ya never know, she watches a lot of those cliché princess movies, doesn't she?"

"Sometimes she does, but that doesn't mean anything!"

"Whatever floats your boat, oh and Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"Sandy just told me- er, signaled to me, that he finished this thing that you and him were workin on for Jack. Something about a dolphin?"

"Oh, that. It's a little 'welcome to the group' project that him and I are planning on giving to him but it's a surprise! So don't tell him!"

"Can't he hear you talking right now?"

"Jack is off playing with Baby Tooth so I'm out of their hearing range at the moment."

"Well anyway, whatever you and Sandy are doing for Jack it needs a silver chain for some reason and Sandy wants to know if you got that yet."

"Oh that's right! I still need to give him the chain…"

In retrospect she had completely forgotten about the dolphin charm for Jack. How could something so important slip her mind? She must have been too excited about introducing Tiffany to Jack that she forgot the chain.

"Hey Tooth," interjected Jack as he was walking back with one arm clutching Baby Tooth. "Are you done yet? I think your sister is getting a little tired again."

Baby Tooth let out a long yawn while she rubbed her eyes. Today had been hectic for her young mind with all of the playing she did with Jack and then ridiculing him at the café after he was almost hit by a truck. Tooth observed her sister and replied, "I guess you're right Jack. I'll tell Aster we should be back soon."

Tooth and Aster both said goodbye to each other and she hung up on him. It wasn't until she put her phone back in her pocket did she realize that there was a single star glistening in the sky. Had she really spent all day with Jack? Time really does fly when you're having fun.

Jack handed over Baby Tooth to her sister and kept both pairs of ice skates dangling by their laces in one hand. When he returned to the orphanage he would have to remember to put them somewhere special so that he would not lose them again. He still couldn't believe that he had found a second pair. It was as if some unknown source of power had zapped them into existence just so that he could ice skate with the girl that he would later fall in love with.

Keeping a safe distance from Tooth, Jack made sure not to let his hand accidentally brush past hers. A tactic like that would only cause him to blush and he hated blushing in front of people which made him hate that waitress from the café even more. She got him all flustered in front of Tooth and he must have looked absurd to her with all of that color on his otherwise pale face. With his hands stuff in the front pocket of his hoodie, Jack continued to walk down the sidewalk next to Tooth. It was dusk outside but there was still too much light for any street lamps to turn on.

"Jack," Tooth quietly spoke. "Can I ask you something? It's nothing important, I'm just curious about something."

Jack tensed up. What could she possibly want to know? Normally if Tooth wanted to ask him something, he would just see it as a simple inquiry, but it was a whole new ball game now that he knew that he liked her. Anything that she does can be arousing in his eyes.

Was that even the right term? Arousing? Maybe it should be something else… flattering? charming? enticing?

"Jack? Hellooo? Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"What was it?"

"Something stupid. So you were saying?"

"Well, I was wondering if that's all you wear."

"What do you mean?"

Tooth's hand motioned to his entire wardrobe which was just his shoes, blue hoodie, and his khaki pants.

"It's just that every time I see you at school, you're wearing the same thing. You're like a cartoon character, I always see you in the same clothes."

"Well it's not like I can't wear them, I don't really have anything much to wear and I wash them a lot anyway. You see, I can't go out and legally purchase clothes due to the fact that I'm flat out broke and unemployed. The only new clothes that I get are salvaged from any donations that the orphanage gets and even then there's not really anything that appeals to me."

"Really? How long have you lived like that?"

"Let's see, I got my hoodie from my mo- uh, when I was really young. It was one of those things that you grow into as you get older so it lasts longer. At first it was really big on me and I didn't really wear it anywhere, but after maybe five years it finally fit me so I've been wearing it since. "

He didn't want to bring his mother into this conversation, he wasn't ready to tell Tooth the sob story that was his childhood.

"So you've been wearing the exact same hoodie for more than five years?"

"Yup. As for my pants, they're just donated hand-me-downs. There's nothing else much to say about what I wear unless you wanted to know what I wear underneath."

Tooth blushed and Jack winked to her before she playfully punched him in the shoulder. Meanwhile, Baby Tooth had decided to take another nap as she was held by her sister.

"Oh I know! We still some time left in the day,"

"It's dusk."

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, I never told Aster exactly what time we'd get back, why not do one last thing while we're out on the town?"

"Such as?"

"I can take you to get some new clothes!"

"You know that you don't have to do that, right? And what about everyone else waiting for us?"

"They're smart, they can handle themselves. I'll just get you something else to where and then we can go back afterwards."

"What about Baby Tooth?"

"She's still asleep and she'll probably stay that way until morning. So what do you say?"

Taking a moment to pause and think about it, Jack went over everything in his head. He's been wearing the same blue hoodie for so long and having something else to wear wouldn't hurt. Besides, Tooth looked so eager about it and if he agreed to let her take him shopping then that meant he could spend more time with her.

"Sure, I'm in."

"Great! There's a great clothing shop a few blocks away that we could walk to so that we can get you something there."

One of the best benefits of living in Burgess was that it was a small town in which everything was within a walking range. You didn't need a car, but it certainly helped to cut down on travel time.

Tooth dragged Jack along the sidewalk as she led the way. The only reason she had brought up his clothes was just an excuse. She just didn't want her day with him to be over yet.

Jack knew that he should be grateful. Not only was Tooth a fantastic friend, she was going out of her way to buy him some new clothes with her own money because she wanted to. When they had first met, he had thought that she came off as annoying the way she was always in your face and how she could blabber on and on about everything; but after a while, she had grown on him. His entire opinion on being forced to work with Tooth and everyone else by Mr. Ombric had drastically changed. He was glad to be with them.

The only thing that Jack had to worry about was what Tooth would pick out for him to wear. He avoided wearing anything that was red, not wanting to look like a walking candy cane with his white hair and bleached complexion, and he wasn't too fond of wearing was green. It would only make him look too Irish since he would just be green and white with the only other color being his blue eyes.

/

Baby Tooth yawned as she stretched out. She thought that her nap was pleasant as she looked around in confusion. Where were they now? The last thing that she recalled was playing with Jack on the sidewalk. Judging from get surroundings, the tike assumed that she was in some sort of waiting room that had stalls with curtains lining side of the walls. Was she in a changing room?

"Good to see you're awake, Baby Tooth."

The sound of her sister's voice snapped Tiffany's attention to the side where Tooth was. They were both sitting on a bench while Tooth was holding some hangers with clothes still draped over them in her lap.

"Toothie, where are we?"

"We're waiting in the changing room. I'm getting Jack some new stuff to wear and then we'll get back to Aster's. you can see Jack when he comes out, okay?"

"Okay!"

Patiently waiting for her friend to come out, Baby Tooth sat on the bench with her legs crossed. She had only met Jack today and they already had a special bond together, she could feel it.

Tooth had said that Jack was changing clothes which he was probably doing behind one of the curtains, and Baby Tooth wondered to herself what he would look like when he came out. She didn't have to wait that long because Jack's hand appeared on the curtain's edge and he yanked it back to reveal himself.

He was no longer wearing his blue pullover and khaki pants, but something lighter instead. There was a white long sleeved shirt with red sleeves in the place of his hoodie while a pixilated record was printed on the chest. His new pants were a pair of black slacks and Jack just pursed his lips as he stood out.

"I don't know Tooth," he said. " this doesn't really suite me."

Now that Baby Tooth though about it, he reminded her of a mint the way his upper half was red and white. The body of the shirt was as white as his hair and it contrasted well with the red sleeves.

Tooth held a hand to her chin and studied Jack in his new outfit.

"Hmm...yeah, I think you're right, Jack. The pants are fine but the shirt has to go. Here, try this instead."

She handed him a blue flannel shirt with thin, white stripes decorating the outside. The material wasn't that far off from that of a hoodie's lining, so he should find it much more appealing to wear. Baby Tooth witnessed Jack take the shirt and disappear behind the curtain. She hoped that he would come back out soon.

It took two minutes for Jack to pull back the curtain again and this time his previous shirt was replaced with the flannel one Tooth had given him. "Let's see..." she said as she judged him. She walked circles around her friend before clapping her hands together in satisfaction.

"Perfect! I think you look great!"

Jack raised his eyebrows at her compliment. He tried to keep cool by continuing their conversation.

"It's just a shirt and black pants, Tooth. I don't think it matters that much."

"But it does! It goes well with your pale skin and it even matches your hair and eyes by being blue and white!"

It was taking every ounce of willpower he had to prevent himself from blushing. The girl of his dreams honestly thought that he looked good in these average looking clothes. She even seemed pleased with herself for picking out such a dashing wardrobe that fit his psychical standards. It was nice to know that his white teeth weren't the only thing that she was find of.

"Cool!" chirped Baby Tooth. It was nice to see Jack in something new, he was just like the doll. "Thanks, Baby Tooth." he replied with gratitude. They continued to chat until Jack went back into the changing room and came out with his normal clothes he was already wearing. Baby Tooth smiled as he picked her up and brushed his finger against her nose, tickling her in the process. She ended up laughing to herself which lit up the entire room and made Tooth grin as well.

"I'm going to go pay for the clothes. Watch Baby Tooth for me, okay Jack?"

"Got it."

Jack sat down in the bench with Baby Tooth in his lap while Tooth left the room. Her camera was resting on top of the bench with the ice skates planted next to them. He was tempted to look through Tooth's camera and see all of the pictures that were taken today, but he declined when he realized that he didn't even know how to do it. He hasn't even held a camera before. The only thing he knows about their functions is that you press a button and take a picture.

Jack sighed to himself.

Here he was, with the little sister of the girl he had a crush on who happened to be his friend. "I guess it's just you and me again, Baby Tooth."

"Yup!"

They sat together in silence and growing bored, Baby Tooth stood up on the bench and pulled Jack's hair.

"Hey! Don't-"

"Is it real?"

"What?"

"White! White hair!"

Being bored in a dressing room could make anyone come up with all sorts of questions.

"Yes, my white hair is real. Now if you would just stop tugging on it, I-"

"Just like snow! White like snow!"

Even though she was fumbling with the fibers on his head, Jack couldn't stay mad at her. She was just a cute three year old child.

She was so innocent.

She was so clueless to what hardships life could throw at you later in life.

Her innocence reminded Jack of what he used to be like.

"So Baby Tooth, you know a lot about your sister, right?"

"Yeah! I wanna be her when I grow up!"

"You do?"

"Uh huh!"

"I don't blame you, she's a pretty amazing person. I could never do half of the things that she can. For example, there's no way I'd be able to plan an Easter egg hunt and keep up in school."

"I wanna be a fairy too! Tooth Fairy!"

"Sophie likes fairies too. No wonder the two of you are so close."

Sophie would always be wearing those pink fairy wings that would bounce on her back whenever she would run. When Jack had first met Sophie, she had snuck out of the preschool and wandered to the playground. It was there her wings got snagged on the fence and he had to help her free, creating the start of their friendship.

"So let me get this straight, you want to be the Tooth Fairy, huh?"

"Yeah! She's really pretty and Mommy tells me about her every night and she can fly!"

Baby Tooth's name was Tiffany Fairie, so it didn't seem that surprising that she wanted to become a real fairy. Since her older sister's name is Toothiana Fairie, she would be the tooth fairy as well with a name like that. Tooth just needed to be covered in vibrant feathers with wings on her back that would constantly be beating and then she would look like she came from Jack's dreams.

In terms of his dreams, Jack remembered that Baby Tooth was there too. He had saved her from a black stallion made out of this thing called nightmare sand hours before they began to collect the teeth. But his dream version of Baby Tooth contrasted with her real self. Instead of being a child, she was this tiny fairy that fit in the palm of his hand with a needle like nose and a feathery body.

Baby Tooth was the only one left… the other millions of fairies were stolen. That got Jack thinking.

"Hey Baby Tooth,"

"Hm?"

"Tell me, do you ever get lonely sometimes? You have four older sisters in school meaning that they'd be gone for most of the day and Tooth said that you haven't even started preschool yet. And what about your mom? What does she do?"

"Mommy cleans house! She makes food and makes clothes not so dirty and drives a car and-"

"But what do you do when your mom is busy and your sisters are gone?"

"Play!"

"With your mom?"

"No, Mommy busy so I explore!"

"With who?"

"Me!"

"You explore by yourself?"

"Uh huh! Imagination!"

"Well then, Baby Tooth, you're doing what I did when I was your age. Except I didn't have four other sisters and it was just my mom and I."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was left in daycare a lot because my mom had a job."

"What about your Daddy?"

"It's complicated."

"Was daycare good?"

"Eh, it was okay. I didn't really talk to anyone there but I explored the building a lot. I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to at the time, but it was still fun."

"Then what?"

"Then the workers found out and I had to be put in time out for going places where I shouldn't have gone."

"Time out stupid!"

"It wasn't that bad. I was able to draw and color things with the crayons and markers there."

"I do color too! I like markers and finger paints."

"Then promise me something,_ never_ draw on the walls."

Jack would never forget that his whole situation with his parents had started because he was drawing on the walls. If he had just used the paper he was given, then his father never would have gotten frustrated enough to take out his anger on him. If his father never too out his anger on him, then the whole fight between his parents would have been prevented.

"Okay!"

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise!"

Baby Tooth stuck out her pinky finger and waited for Jack to interlock his own finger with it. Once he did, he smiled softly at her. He never thought that he could connect so well with a three year old, and she even promised twice to him in one day. Jack leaned against the wall with Baby Tooth, glad to have a friend like her.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: oh gosh this took longer than it should have D:**

**its just that ive been so busy lately with school and then i have to sew 7 complex plushies for my friends so that theyll stop bothering me ugh Dx**

Chapter Twenty Three

"I'm back you two!" Tooth cheerfully proclaimed as she walked back into the dressing room with a receipt stuffed in her pocket. "Miss me?"

"Yeah- well, I…yeah." Jack awkwardly responded. He could barely talk to her now that he was in love.

"Are you ready to go back to Aster's now? We've been out all day."

"It's getting really dark out anyway."

"What about you, Baby Tooth?"

"Uh huh!"

Together, they all left the store. Jack placed the ice skates in the shopping bag that contained his clothes and Tooth held her sister in her arms. Aster's house was approximately twenty minutes away, which meant that they'd be spending a little more time together before departing. "I think the stars are coming out." Jack observed. He was looking up at the night sky to see faint hints of what looked like glitter spread out all over the place. After spending so many nights out on the roof of the orphanage stargazing, he should know what the stars above the town look like.

"Jack, look!"

"What?"

"It's a shooting star!"

Tooth pointed at a luminous ball of light flying over their heads. It was brighter than the others, like a night light.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Course I do, we make a wish."

Jack turned to Baby Tooth.

"Did you hear that, Baby Tooth? Close your eyes and make a wish but don't tell anyone what it is, otherwise it won't come true. Got that?"

Baby Tooth nodded her head excitedly. Her tiny hands covered her mouth so that she wouldn't say her wish out loud and she closed her eyes. Jack and Tooth shut their eyes as well and made a wish even though they were too old to believe in wishing on shooting stars. However, that didn't mean that it was only for children under the age of ten.

Once Jack opened his eyes back up, he was met with Tooth staring back at him. "Did you make your wish?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I made my wish."

"Do you think it'll come true?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

His hands were in his pockets as he stared at the sky.

"I won't tell you what I wished for, but it was related to someone who is in my judgment, very close to me."

"Well whoever they are, I'm sure that you'll make them very happy."

"I hope so…"

What was he even doing? Having sweet little moments like this only worked in romance novels and those movies that were supposed to make you feel good. This isn't some made up story, this was reality!

They all walked on, each with a different though in their head. In fact, Jack was occupied by his wish. It was about Tooth.

He was seventeen years old, turning eighteen in two weeks, and was just now having his first crush. Not wanting his heart to be shattered, he wished that Tooth felt the same about him. As of now, spending the whole day with her and Baby Tooth was the highlight of his life in high school. Maybe someday he'll tell her how he feels…

Tooth kept her eyes on Jack. She pretended to be focused on something else when he looked at her, but thoughts of Jack always found a way to creep into her head and stay there. It was those thoughts of him that affected her wish about wanting him to feel the same about her. Both of them knew that making wishes never works, but it was still nice to have something to hope about; because that's what some people need sometimes. Hope.

Now she was thinking like Aster when he'd explain to North the importance of spring and Easter.

Jack was so quiet now, and that silence had shrouded all three of them.

"So Jack,"

"Hm?"

"Anything you want to talk about? Walking together in dead silence would just be a little awkward and having a chat always helps to pass the time."

"Okay then. You want to talk about anything in particular?"

"Not much. The Easter egg hunt is beginning to be old news now that we've talked about it so much."

"Yeah."

Jack started to have a debate with himself about whether or not he should bring up his birthday. After all, it was the day before Easter. If he told Tooth, then he could celebrate his birthday with her and his other friends. He's never done that before, but then again he's never had friends before.

Baby Tooth began to become hostile in her sister's arms. She's been rotating between being held by Jack and Tooth all day, it was time to be put down. "What's wrong Baby Tooth?" Tooth asked her. "Do you want to be put down?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well all you had to do was ask."

Tooth placed her sister on the sidewalk and the toddler turned to Jack. "Can we play?" she cooed to him optimistically.

"Right now? It's kind of late and we're going to Aster's house anyway."

"Awwwww."

Jack watched the child kick the dirt in disappointment.

"How about this, you can ride on my shoulders until we reach Aster's."

"Okay!"

Baby Tooth was grinning ear to ear and Jack lifted her up high. She was ecstatic to be up so high as she was perched around his neck with her legs on his shoulders.

"How's the view up there?"

"Cool!"

Jack was the tallest out of the group with Tooth being a few inches shorter. Being on top of Jack's shoulder's, Baby Tooth was higher than she's ever been before. She hasn't even been this far from the ground when sitting on the swings. Every second that past she was enthusiastically craning her neck to view everything from her angle. She loved to be high up, and one day Baby Tooth hoped that she would sprout wings so that she could fly as high as she wanted. That way she could go anywhere in the world.

That was her wish, to see the world.

Tiffany Fairie was a girl born and raised in the small town of Burgess. She's never even been outside of the town's perimeters yet. Tooth had told her bedtime stories of when their family traveled often back when they only had one child to look after. According to Tooth, their mother had been a fighter pilot for the air force meaning that they would never stay in one place for too long. They had been to exotic places such as Hawaii and the Caribbean's while also temporarily housing in Southern Asia, France, and they even went to Spain once.

Before Baby Tooth was born, their mother retired after having the triplets. This meant that they wouldn't be moving away from Burgess for a while. Looking up at the multiple stars lighting up the sky, Baby Tooth yearned for her wish would come true.

/

It didn't take long for them to return. Talking with each other did pass the time and before they knew it they were entering Aster's neighborhood.

The sound of her sister chatting with Jack was only background noise for Baby Tooth. She was too occupied searching the skies for another shooting star to interpret what they were saying. If she spotted another shooting star, she'd be able to wish for her first wish to come true, then there'd be no doubt that it wouldn't.

"We're getting close to where Aster's house is." stated Tooth. "It should be just around the corner of the next block if we stick to the sidewalk. Then again, we can't really take another route unless we cut through people's lawns and that'd be rude not to mention we'd be trespassing. And it's not like we're going to travel on the road to his house since-"

"Tooth,"

"What?"

"I think you're starting to ramble again."

"Oh really? Sorry, I didn't realize it and even if I did I'd probably assume that everyone would talk that much since a lot of people do. I guess that it's this little habit of mine where sometimes I can just go on and on and on about normal things and stray off topic unless it's about teeth. I could talk all day about them and did you know that-"

"You're doing it again."

"Sorry."

She went red in the face with embarrassment. She didn't mean to ramble, it just happened. Her friends and family didn't actually mind that much, but it was what some other people who she wasn't the closest to that would bother her. In fifth grade there was always someone who would yell 'Shut up!' to her, giving her the impression that she was annoying.

"Hey Jack,"

"Yeah?"

"Am I annoying?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I just jabber pointlessly all the time. Everyone else I know doesn't really care but to people who I'm not friends with, I think that it's a peeve to them."

"Then that's their problem. I've never had such a good time around anyone else and I spent all day with you and your sister."

To be honest, he had never spent the whole day with anyone before; but if he did then he'd undoubtedly choose spending the day with Tooth than with someone else. Her constant babble had actually grown on him. She had such a sweet voice once you become accustomed to hearing it.

Jack shifted the shopping bag holding his new clothes from Tooth and the ice skates into his other hand. Using his free hand, he patted Tooth on the back and she smiled at him, making him smile back.

They kept to the sidewalk and in no time Aster's house was coming into view. Knowing that it was almost time to go back to the orphanage was disappointing to Jack, he'd rather stay with his friends longer than to go back to a place were it was like her didn't even exist. And the fact that the only living being who noticed him there was Mr. Moon made going home to the orphanage an even more undesirable choice.

When they finally walked up to Aster's house all of their friends were waiting for them in the front lawn. "It took you long enough!" North exclaimed. "We thought you'd never return! I was about to get in my car and drive all over town on a wild goose chase to find-"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just call Tooth's cell? It's not like she had turned it off or anything." Jack interrupted. "You could have just called us any time. There's not really a need to drive all over town and we were at the park for the most of it."

"I know, but there is no fun in that!"

"It would certainly save you the hassle of tracking us down."

While he talked with North, Jack allowed Baby Tooth to crawl off of his shoulders. Tooth saw that Jack was occupied with North and she looked over to Sandy who had his hand in his right pocket. The dolphin charm must be in there. "Do you have it?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper as to not let Jack hear. Sandy nodded and pulled his hand out of his pocket where he held a clay dolphin, roughly the size of a quarter, with a loop on its head. It was positioned to appear as if it were jumping out from water and he had even painted with a glaze coating it too.

Tooth took the charm from her friend and examined it for a closer look. Every shape and edge was crafted without one flaw and the paint coating only made it looked as if an actual dolphin had been shrunken down. "Sandy it's perfect! I think this may be the best charm you've made!"

"Still raving on 'bout that?"

Aster stood behind Tooth and peered over her shoulder.

"So that's what you're giving to Frosty?"

"Aster! Don't startle me like that!"

His voice had just come out of nowhere. Tooth didn't even know that he was behind her.

"Ya feeling a bit jumpy today, aren't you?"

"It's nothing. Anyway, how did progress with the eggs go?"

"It went great. We got them all painted and filled with googies so we're all set for Easter."

"Heheh."

"What are laughing at? Is there something on my face?"

"No, I think Jack is right. 'Googies' is an amusing word."

"Oh don't tell me that you're little boyfriend has made an impression on you."

"What is wrong with you?! Jack is _not _my boyfriend!"

"But you want him to be, don't you?"

"Well it'd be nice but- wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Yeah yeah Tooth, I get it. Let's not repeat ourselves about how hypocritical you are with Jack. So since we've got the eggs done we still have to reserve a spot at the park."

"Oh no I forgot! I still have to talk to the park manager!"

"You know, you've been forgetting a lot of things lately ever since Jack had been with us this year."

"Oh shut up."

Yikes. Maybe Aster was right. It did seem that Jack had rubbed off on her.

Sandy had been watching their conversation with amusement. Aster was having fun as well teasing her while Tooth blushed again. Being the only female in the group, she was surrounded by a bunch of dumb boys. They probably didn't even know how to talk to girls and Jack had barely talked to anyone before he met them.

"I'll call the park's staff tonight and send them an email. We've been doing the Easter egg hunt there for years, so I know that they've grown accustomed to us coming there to hide the eggs. But it'll still take a few days for them to respond and allow us to use the park for Easter."

"Alright then."

Sandy listened to them converse and none of them even noticed that Jack's head was turned to them from afar. From what he's observed, Tooth had been talking to Aster for an awfully long time similar to how she was talking to him this morning. Was she blushing? and why did they all look so secretive?

"I'll be right back, North." he told his friend. "Watch Baby Tooth for my, okay?"

"No problem Jack."

Jack left Baby Tooth with North and bounded over to where Tooth was with Aster and Sandy. Tooth and Aster's backs were facing him, but Sandy wasn't. Sandy spotted him heading in their direction and he signaled to Tooth to hide the dolphin. Tooth understood Jack and hastily shoved the charm into her pocket a second before Jack arrived. Turning to her secret crush, Tooth greeted him.

"Hey Jack! Is North ready to drop us all home? It's already past Baby Tooth's bedtime and I think that she's had enough time out with the big kids today."

"She took two naps today, Tooth. Good luck trying to put her to bed."

"I'll just give her some warm milk when we get home. So is North ready?"

"He's always ready to drive his car, so yes. And one more thing,"

"Yeah?"

"What's in your pocket?"

Looking down at her pocket, Tooth saw that the dolphin charm was creating a noticeable lump. Ugh! Why do people always make the pockets in girl pants so shallow? Sometimes they're not even real pockets!

"I-It's nothing! I uh, yeah it's nothing really. The pockets that they put in girl pants are just so small and I could put a tooth in there and it could be seen. I mean, I can barely fit my phone in my pockets."

"I think they're like that for a reason."

"What reason?"

"I bet they do that to women's clothes so that you'll buy more purses and bags."

Aster glanced down at Sandy who just shrugged at him. Tooth was making it so obvious that she was hiding something, it was as if she wanted Jack to know that she had a surprise in store for him. The fact that Jack was so clueless to Tooth's actions was just sad. Love really did make people act stupid.

"So what are you talking about over here with Aster anyways?"

"I was just telling him about how I'll contact the park staff later tonight so that we can have a place reserved at the park for Easter."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah."

Sandy was starting to notice from Jack's body language that he was interested in what Tooth and Aster were doing together. Was he being jealous? But if he was jealous, then that meant-

"Why didn't you just call the park earlier?"

"Because I forgot! Now are we getting in North's car now or what?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Perfect! Now let's go right now so that I can put Tiffany to bed."

Tooth rushed past Jack and went straight over to where her sister was; glad to be out of her conversation with Jack. At any moment she could have slipped up and said something that she would regret later. "What's with her?" Jack asked as he turned to Aster and Sandy. Aster just rolled his eyes while Sandy innocently shrugged. Not knowing what they were keeping from him, Jack tagged along with Sandy as they walked over to where North was so that they could go home.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: oh no im falling behind DX and at the bottom of this chapter is some responses to some reviews so look out for that**

Chapter Twenty Four

As he said his goodbyes to Aster, Jack followed his friends' examples and climbed into North's car as well. He sat in the back seats with Tooth and Baby Tooth while Sandy took the shotgun. "Tomorrow there is school, Jack." North told him. "We usually carpool to school, so I expect to see you waiting outside on Monday."

"Sure thing, North."

Even though he was only partly paying attention to what North was saying, Jack was still able to understand that he no longer had to ride the bus to school. That was a huge relief uplifted from his shoulders. He didn't have to chase the bus whenever he was late anymore. That reminded Jack; he needed a new alarm clock. The one he smashed on the floor on Friday was too obnoxious anyways.

They arrived at Sandy's house in a matter of ten minutes and they all waved to him while he left. Another ten minutes had passed and North was soon pulling up near Tooth's house. Jack made sure to observe the area around her house just in case he would decide to swing by anytime soon.

"Bye guys!" Tooth said as she climbed out from the car with her camera and she lifted Baby Tooth out of her seat. "Say goodbye, Baby Tooth."

"Bye-bye!"

Baby Tooth was vigorously waving her hand back and forth and Jack said goodbye to her as he waved back. Tooth waved to him as well before turning around and walking up her driveway. Jack didn't even blink when he watched her depart, still not over his crush on her.

Now that Tooth had gone home, it was only North and Jack in the car. Jack was never skilled at holding conversations or even starting them, and a silence loomed over them in the moving vehicle. He could even hear the ice and the snow crunching under the tires of North's car.

"Have a good day?" North asked his guest in an attempt to dull the quietness. "You were at the park all day with Tooth and Tiffany."

"Baby Tooth."

"What was that?"

"Baby Tooth. It's what we're calling Tooth's sister because of how much she resembles her. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Ah well, no one tells me anything. Anyway, what did the three of you do at the park all day?"

"We had some fun. Tooth took some pictures and after a while I took them to the frozen lake behind the park so that I could ice skate for them."

"Really? You went skating and you didn't tell me? You know that how much I wanted to see you ice skate!"

"Don't worry North, Tooth snapped tons of photos that you could probably see on Monday."

"Very well."

Even though he had missed the opportunity to witness Jack ice skate live, Tooth was an amazing photographer. She should have taken some fantastic photos for him to review.

"Here we are!" he announced as with his voice still sounding as cheerful as ever. "Watch your step as you get out, Jack."

"Okay, thanks."

Jack grabbed the shopping bag holding harboring his new clothes and ice skates as he opened the door.

"And remember that I'll be coming by to pick you up for school, okay? We wouldn't want Tooth to come into your room again, would we?"

"Yeah yeah I get it, don't be late. I'll be waiting outside for you guys."

"Good."

"Night, North. See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Jack."

North bid farewell to Jack and sped off. Jack sighed to himself at seeing his last friend for the night drive away, the headlights still flickering in the darkness as they grew smaller and smaller. He remembered that he would have to get used to saying goodbye to his friends knowing that they would come back around the next day.

It was sheer luck that the doors to the orphanage weren't locked yet. The sky was pitch-black with the stars shinning above him. He had no idea what time it was, but he knew that it was most likely past 10pm, meaning that Mr. Moon should have locked up by now. He thought that he would have to climb up the drainpipe again tonight. Pushing the door open, Jack stepped inside.

The usually bustling rooms and hallways were lifeless when he walked through the door. One perk of being the oldest orphan was that he was able to stay awake later than most of the children here. That is, if the preteen orphans weren't one their phones pretending to be asleep in their rooms.

He made no effort to inform Mr. Moon that he had returned as he lazily stomped up the stairs. If only he could call upon the wind to carry him to his room like in his dreams, then it would just enter through a window and sweep him up. Even if it created a draft in the building.

Jack grabbed the string hanging down from the ceiling and pulled the ladder to the attic down. After today, he just wanted to sleep. He stepped up the ladder and groaned in frustration at entering the attic. His room was still a mess! All of the antiques he had tossed around in his frantic search for his ice skates earlier had caused the floor to be coated in old junk. Boxes were knocked over and its cargo prevented him from walking to his bed without stepping on anything.

The last thing that Jack wanted to do was clean his room when he was already sleepy. Instead of picking everything up, he just cleared a straight path from the door in the floor to his bed. He dropped the shopping bag near his nightstand and flung back his bed sheets. He didn't even bother to change out of his day clothes; he just flopped on the bed and shut his eyes.

He was so tired but he couldn't fall asleep. Speculations of today and tomorrow swarmed around in his head. Tooth, his dreams, school; everything was busying his mind and preventing him from shutting off and going out like a light. Jack knew that he didn't have it in him to focus on everything at once, so he just decided to clear his head. The last thing he thought about was his dreams before dozing off into sleep.

/

Morning sunshine seeped through his window and shined on his face. Jack took no notice and instead turned onto his side, unaware he had just made a big mistake. He rolled right off the bed and found himself falling onto the floor of the attic, waking up in the process.

It was a Monday morning and he was woken up by falling out of bed, it seemed that was a good start for the day. Not.

That was when it hit him.

He didn't have any dreams last night.

Shouldn't he have dreamt of his fantasy adventures? Sunday was both whimsical and tiring, and then there was Tooth.

Tooth…

Jack peeled himself off of the floor and rubbed his eyes. Just the thought about Tooth made his heart flutter, that meant his feelings for her hadn't faded overnight.

He was no longer focused on his lack of dreams as he went through his morning routine. The clothes that Tooth had bought him on Sunday were still in the shopping bag, and Jack pulled them out to put them on. He slipped out of his blue hoodie and khaki pants to put on his black slacks and flannel shirt. Tooth was right; he did look snazzy in them.

His blue pullover that his mother had given to him was lying on his bed, isolated. Jack stared at it and contemplated on whether or not he should wear it today. The reason he had worn it every day before was because it had reminded him of his mother's past love for him, but he realized that he didn't need it anymore. He had friends now that truly cared about him. The weather was warming up anyways. Even the snow outside was disappearing. Within two weeks the frozen lake should begin to thaw back into a body of water instead of a giant ice cube.

Leaving behind his hoodie on his bed, Jack opened up the attic and descended down the ladder. It felt nice to have a change in wardrobe. He walked into the bathroom and checked his reflection in the mirror to make sure he didn't have any bed head. The last time his hair looked stupid Tooth was there to fix it, but she wasn't here right now and he was on his own.

The striped blue and white flannel shirt contrasted with his dark black slacks and Jack was glad that he had made the decision to wear them to school. It would certainly make Tooth happy to see that he was wearing what he had picked out for him, and Jack loved the idea of her being happy because of him. Jack brushed his teeth until they were so clean that they sparkled and completed his first step into preparing for school.

School… his backpack!

It was still supposedly in the attic somewhere beneath the mess he had caused yesterday. He didn't want to go digging through everything, but Jack knew that he had to in order to get his schoolbag. He turned the knob and opened the door but nearly fainted to see that Mr. Moon standing in the doorway's path.

"Good morning, Jack. Did you slee-"

"Will you knock it off!?"

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"You just keep popping at my side up out of nowhere! It's really annoying how you just appear in my face."

"My sincere apologies, Jack. I was unaware that-"

"And can you stop with that gentleman thing? You're just… way too polite with all these old time manners that no one has used since the colonies."

He didn't care if he was being harsh or rude, he just wanted Mr. Moon to leave him alone; or at least stop being at his side and acting way too nice to him. Someone that nice and polite just had to be hiding something, and Jack did not want to know what it was at all.

In eighth grade he had to read this short story called "The Land Lady" in his English class. It was about this really well-mannered old person, like Mr. Moon, and it was an old lady who ran this inn with an eerie tone to it. One day, a young man name Billy stopped by her inn to stay there for a while but he was the only guest there. The Land Lady treated him well, like how Mr. Moon treats Jack, and she even gave Billy some tea that tasted like bitter almonds. It was later revealed that the Land Lady has some dead pets that she stuffed so that she could keep them forever, talk about disturbing, and she did the same with all of her guests. She gave Billy poisoned tea so that he would die and she could stuff him so that he would never leave.

There were way too many connections being made between the Land Lady and Mr. Moon, and Jack wasn't accepting anything to eat from the caretaker any time soon.

"Listen Mr. Moon, sorry for snapping at you, but I have school today and my friends are picking me up."

"Ah, of course. You'll be seeing that Toothiana friend again, won't you?"

"Hold up, I never told you anything about Tooth."

"I saw you meet her yesterday from the front window. She seems like a charming girl, and you seem to have a strong relationship with her."

"So what? She's a good friend and- wait, were you spying on me?"

"I was passing by and caught a quick glimpse."

"But that doesn't mean that you can just say that I-"

"You're blushing."

"What? No, I'm not!"

Jack tried his best to hide the embarrassment on his face and amused Mr. Moon in the process.

"Don't worry, lad. Teen romance can be a very flattering sort of thing."

"H-How would you know? You're like, somewhere over maybe fifty or sixty?"

Instead of going up to the attic to retrieve his schoolbag, he was standing in the third floor bathroom blushing while an old man laughed at him. What made the situation even worse was that Mr. Moon was blocking his path.

"Mr. Moon, I am seventeen years old and going on eighteen. I think that I can handle my social life on my own."

"I will have to disagree with you one that one. You seem to separate yourself from the other orphans here and your only female associate seems to be Toothiana."

"Hey, that's not true! For your information, I'm also friends with her sister!"

"Moving on, don't wait too long to enjoy your time with someone. You'll never know when you might have to leave them. I would make it count if I were you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, will you move so that I can get out?"

"Certainly."

Mr. Moon sidestepped and allowed Jack to pass. The impatient teenager rushed up to the attic and the floorboards shrieked like banshees under his weight. Jack hated how creaky the floor was near the attic. When he had enough money, he would live somewhere else that wasn't falling apart.

Jack scaled up the ladder to his room and sifted through the heaps of old junk on the floor. He found the two pairs of ice skates, hung them on his bed frame, and kept searching for his schoolbag. There was no trace of it in the junk and the teen sighed, glaring at his own mess.

Sunlight peaked through the window and lit up the attic. A twinkle on the floor caught Jack's eye and curious, he bent down to see what it was. He dug deep enough in the antiques and pulled out a single golden locket, and it was so shiny that Jack could even see his reflection in it. Upon further inspection, the piece of jewelry was shaped like a teardrop with a bird feather carved on the front. Even the silver chain it was attached to looked glamorous.

Opening the locket up, the orphan found that it was empty inside. There seemed to be no trace that resembled any sort of sentimental value and there was no way to identify an owner.

The locket that Jack had found had no scratches, it was in one piece, and it would make the perfect gift for a special someone close to him.

Since no one was around to claim the solo object, Jack pocketed it. He would give it to Tooth later on their way to school. After all, he can't allow someone like her to get away from him.

With his present for Tooth secured in his pants pocket, Jack stood up and continued his search for his backpack. He finally found it laying under and old, rusted lamp stand. The antique was heaved off and Jack triumphantly slung his bag around his left shoulder.

North would swing by to pick him up for school at any moment, and Jack still had to eat something. He recalled that on Monday in the middle of class his stomach had growled like a pack of wolves which reeled in unwanted attention from his peers to him.

Jack walked down to the kitchen within five minutes. He rummaged through the pantries and cabinets until he found two breakfast bars that he could eat to fill his small stomach. It didn't take that much to fill him up anyway. Unwrapping the breakfast bars, Jack ate them while leaning on the counter. This small snack would have to suffice since there was no way he was cooking something for himself. Whenever he attempted to cook anything, he would fail miserably.

When he was fourteen, he had tried to make toast for himself but instead it became burnt and caught on fire in the toaster. Later in his life when he was fifteen, he put a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave before school; it became singed and caught on fire.

But the biggest fluke he had ever done while trying to prepare a meal was the day after his seventeenth birthday. He had put a pot of water on the stove and as it began to boil, Jack was oblivious that there was a kitchen towel leaning onto the stove as well. A fire broke out and panicking, Jack had poured even more water on the fire to put it out. He didn't know that you should never use waster on kitchen fires, and he ended up scorching half of the orphanage's kitchen.

Ever since then, he had never even thought about cooking anything at the orphanage. Every time he tried it always had the same result, fire, and Jack was deeply terrified of fire. Just one spark could give him a heart attack and that was why in cooking class he always made someone else use the stove while he stood far far away from it.

Jack finished the two breakfast bars and drank a cup of water. The other orphans were scattered around the kitchen eating and laughing, not even noticing he was there or that he even existed. Once he was done, he put his shoes on and stepped outside with his backpack and the locket for Tooth.

The cool air welcomed him as he stood by the mailbox and waited for North's van to shoot down the road. He didn't have to wait as long this time, because North pulled up minutes later. Aster sat in the front, gripping onto the seat for dear life, Sandy was seated in the back; snoozing again, and Tooth sat next to him with a large deck of printed photos in her lap.

"Morning, Jack!" North yelled from the driver's seat. "What are you doing just standing around? Come in! Come in!"

The jolly Russian beckoned Jack to join them in the car which he did not hesitate to do so. Jack took a seat in between Sandy and Tooth and he noticed that Tooth was smiling at seeing him wearing the wardrobe that she had picked out for him. Or was she just happy to see him in general?

"Morning Tooth, Sandy, North," he greeted even though Sandy was too busy sleeping to respond. North put the car in drive and shot down the road, swerving left and right to evade crashing into other cars going at a slower and safer pace. "and I'd say good morning to the Kangaroo too if he didn't look like he was about to have a heart attack right now."

"Haha, very funny." Aster sarcastically sneered back. He never liked to be in any form of vehicle when North was the diver, that crazy Russian could be the end of him.

Jack looked over to Tooth and realized that the deck oh photos in her lap must be the pictures that she had taken Sunday. "Those the pictures, Tooth?"

"Yeah, but I was too busy on the phone with the park staff last night so my sisters printed them out for me. I still haven't gotten a chance to look through all of them, can you believe it?"

"So was Baby Tooth the one who printed them? Or-"

"It was my other sisters, the triplets. They're the middle children in our family and they're in second grade."

"Oh, okay."

The kids that Jack would see at the elementary school were all third graders and occasionally Sophie when she would sneak away, so no wonder he never saw Tooth's other sisters.

"That reminds me Tooth, I got something for you."

"Really? What is it?"

"Close your eyes, and I'll give it to you."

"Sure thing."

Tooth covered her eyes and Jack pulled the locket out from his pocket. He was anxious, hoping that his friend would like his present for her.

* * *

**A/N: as promised, here are some shoutouts to some of the latest reviews**

**first of all, some you asked if i pulled a Dave Strider look on jack on purpose, and yes, i did xD**

**bs13: the reason that i have to sew 7 plushies for my friends was because they asked for them. well, 3 of them are surprises and i dont really like spending hours of my time cutting out fabric in the middle of the night while crying but i have a good reason to. you see, i graduate from middle school in 2 weeks and all but one of my friends are going to different high schools. i just want to give my friends something because i dont want them to forget about me because they're the best friends i have ever had. ill probably start crying when its time for our pack to separate ;n;**

**Darkblade 2.0: about the thing dealing pockets, i just found out about that whole thing and i was all like, "yooooooooooooo!" because it makes so much sense! curse you product marketing!  
**

**and thats all for now ;)**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: woohoo i have one exam left on monday :D**

**so on friday i went to my 8th grade dance and i had so much fun.**

Chapter Twenty Five

Tooth could hear the sound of shifting fabric. Whatever Jack must be giving her, it must be in his pants pocket. Her heart was soaring knowing that Jack had gotten out of the way to give her something special, but what could it be? She was actually surprised when he said he had a gift for her because she and Sandy were the ones supposed to give him the dolphin charm necklace.

Sandy woke up from his nap to see Jack sitting next to him. He had never seen the albino out of his blue hoodie before, and his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows leaving his forearms on display. Jack's arms were just as pale as the rest of him, and they were so meek and scrawny. He didn't seem to have any kind of muscle or fat on them.

Jack's hand was in his pocket and Sandy watched him pull out a small, glistening trinket. He was smiling as he pulled out what was a shiny locket on a silver chain. It was even polished and the sun light entering through the car window was reflected on the surface, lighting up the area where it was being held in an array of gold.

Wasn't Jack supposed to be penniless?

Sandy knew how Jack had no money whatsoever and no way to earn it, but the locket he was holding seems to be the most expensive thing he's ever seen. Something as valuable looking like that belongs in a sunken treasure chest. Sandy would ask Jack later where he received such a piece of jewelry.

"Alright Tooth," Jack said as he held the locket close to her. "You can open your eyes now."

Tooth instantly removed her hands from her face and gasped when she saw what Jack was holding in front of her. It was a locket, and not just any locket, but a beautiful one that she could see her own tiny reflection in. But what she couldn't believe was that this dazzling locket was for _her_ especially. Tooth was overall stunned by Jack's gesture and she could only stammer out a response.

"Jack I…I don't know what to say."

"You can say that you like it."

"Like it? It's amazing! I can't believe you'd give me something as nice as this!"

"Why? Too overrated? "

"No no! It's perfect! Where did you even get something like this? It must have cost a fortune!"

"Well, I was cleaning out the attic, and there's some neat stuff in there. You see, I came across this locket and I can't just let something like this be a dust magnet, right? So you know, I figured you'd like something like this. It seems fitting to your fashion style and think of it as a thank you present, for yesterday."

Jack reached over and hung the locket around Tooth's neck. It seemed to fit her almost perfectly, and the chain's length made the actual locket dangle in the middle of her chest. The golden ornament even matched her makeup and the hoop earrings she was wearing. He smiled.

"Looks good on you."

"Thanks, Jack, I really love it."

"I thought you would."

Aster was sitting in the front and could hear the entire conversation between Tooth and Jack while they made doe eyes at each other. He had to give Jack credit, though. The reflection from the locket was even visible from the front seat. But they did not have to act as if they were in a romance movie. "If you two kiss, I'm gonna puke." he said to them. He was already feeling sick enough from North's driving, he did not need two of his friends acting all lovey dovey behind him.

Sandy laughed at how Tooth and Jack immediately stopped talking and blushed at each other. He decided to mess with his friends by making kissy faces at both of them and already flustered enough, Jack and Tooth simultaneously yelled, "Knock it off!"

Both of them uncomfortably glanced at each other after that. Now they were talking in sync, and it was weird.

Jack made sure to keep his eyes plastered to the car window for the rest of the ride to school. No matter how badly he wanted to gaze upon Tooth wearing his locket, he resisted. If any of the guys caught him gawking at Tooth, they would only jest at him and blow his cover by making it obvious he liked her.

Tooth opened her locket and found it empty inside. A variety of ideas swarmed around in her head as to what she should put in it. Since it was a gift from Jack, she wanted to place a picture of him inside, but then it'd be too obvious she loved him. Perhaps she could resize that picture of her, Jack, and Baby Tooth making silly faces at the camera…

When she would get home from school today she would have to remember to edit the picture on her laptop. Her locket couldn't be empty for long; she had to fill it with a memory!

Aster was continuously jostled in his seat. He swore that North's driving would be the end of him one day. It was a complete enigma that he wasn't pulled over by a police officer yet. Glancing at the rear view mirror, Aster saw how Tooth and Jack were now keeping their distances from each other, and averting their eyes. Sandy was sitting with them, but had no intentions to bring them close together.

Tooth had made all of them swear that they wouldn't tell Jack about her love for him, and Aster would remember to keep a close eye on their newest member too. The way he was always blushing around Tooth and acting nicer around her than usual was way too suspicious to ignore. He was sure that Sandy had noticed too. North may be the only person in the car unaware of how they were acting and even if he wasn't watching the road he wouldn't notice that something was up with Jack.

/

North parked the van when they reached the school. Aster was relieved to step out of what he called "The Christmas Deathtrap" and stood a few paces away from it.

"The bell doesn't ring for another ten minutes," North stated while looking at his watch. "So we have some time before school starts."

Everything happening around him was flying over Jack's head. All of the noises were just background music to him, because his mind was elsewhere.

To him, being in love with someone was strange. No matter what he was thinking or doing, his mind always strayed back to Tooth. He could be defusing a nuclear bomb on TV and the sweet sound of Tooth's laughter would be the only thing he was thinking about. Her appearance was distracting enough, but now he could barely keep his eyes off of her now that she had his locket on. Except now. All of his friends were hear and Jack didn't want to stare at Tooth in front of them so he avoided his eyes from everyone. He didn't even notice that most of the gang had gone inside.

Sandy tugged on Jack's sleeve and brought back his attention to the world. He held up his notepad, displaying his message.

_Do you want to come inside?_

Jack looked around.

"I think I'll stay outside."

Sandy took out his pen and wrote his response.

_Then I'll stay out here with you._

"You don't have to do that, Sandy."

_But I don't want you to stand out here all alone._

"Oh, okay. Where did everyone else go, anyway?"

_Aster and North went inside and Tooth went to go talk to one of the teachers._

"Alright then. Thanks for staying out here with me."

_Anytime, Jack._

To be honest, Sandy found it unnerving when he saw Jack all alone. He looked so lonely, and he was so quiet and indifferent by himself. The whole thing was a major contrast to his character when he was around his friends. To see someone so playful and rambunctious reduced to a hallow shell of what he is depending on who he was around concerned Sandy greatly. He was sure that he was the only one who noticed how Jack was a completely different person when he was alone.

The two boys stood outside the school and waited together. Even if it was physically impossible for Sandy to mutter a single word, Jack felt better knowing that someone close to him was at his side. "Hey Sandy," he started. "Do you wanna talk about something? You know, just to pass the time."

Sandy shrugged and wrote on his notepad.

_What do you want to talk about?_

"I don't know."

Being antisocial and alone for so long, Jack couldn't start a quality conversation if his life depended on it. He was better off talking to a wall because a wall wouldn't judge him. Then again, the wall may judge him if it fell on top of him but walls don't fall_ that_ easily.

_School will be over in a few months, got any plans after graduation?_

"I don't know, probably not. You?"

_Going to college._

"Really, now? Are all of you guys going to college?"

_That's the idea. Tooth is going to study to be a dentist, Aster is pursuing a career as a painter, North wants to be a toy designer, and I want to be an oneirologist._

"You want to be a what?"

_Oneirologist. A person who studies dreams._

"Oh, I get it."

_What about you?_

"To be honest, I don't have anything about careers planned out at all. I don't even think I'm going to college."

Jack leaned on the bike rack and hung his head. He had no future, no money, no job, and he'd be lucky if he were able to stay at the orphanage a little longer until he gets enough money to afford a place of his own. The only source of shelter he can afford right now is either some place abandoned and condemned or a cardboard box on the street.

"Everyone knows what they're doing after high school…and then there's me. I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life. I don't even know what I'm put here for or what I'm supposed to do."

The clouds calmly drifting above his head caught his attention. They were so tranquil and at ease, Jack wished that he could fly up and join them to clear his mind. His knuckles were turning white from the anxious feeling coursing through him knowing that there was nothing he could do to change his hopeless future after high school.

Pitch had always told him that his friends would eventually abandon him, is this what they were talking about? Did he know that Jack would be left behind while his friends went to college?

Senior graduation was months away meaning that Jack only had a few months left to spend with his new friends. Once again, his mind was in a slum but this time he wasn't wearing the hoodie purged with childhood nostalgia. He was wearing the clothes Tooth bought him. The hoodie his mother gave him was left on his bed back at the orphanage and Jack couldn't help but feel longing for it. Sandy poked him with his notepad and brought him back to reality, again.

_Something wrong? If it's about what you'll do out of high school, don't sweat it. There's still time left to get everything set and I'm sure you'll figure out something by then. Just like they always say, the journey is better than the destination._

Jack's shoulders relaxed and he eased his bone crushing grip on the bike rack he was sitting on.

"Thanks, Sandy. But it's actually nothing really. I was just thinking about some stuff but thanks for the advice anyway."

Smiling to his friend, Sandy gave Jack a thumbs up. Jack answered with a scoff and ruffled Sandy's hair. When the bell rang they walked inside together and were oblivious about the set of eyes that had kept watch on them the entire time.

* * *

**A/N: blaargh. short chapter is short but you know what i saw? I was scrolling through my dash on tumblr (my blog is scorpiocious in case you want to know) and I SAW FANART FOR THIS FIC ASKGLGHSTLT. it was really amazing and it was the scene from chapter 6 when jack fell on top of tooth and they got flour everywhere. seeing that really made my day :D  
**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: woah i never realized how long this fic has gotten and im not even done yet. Oh and by the way, school is over for me! I'm officially going into high school and I'm on summer vacation :D**

Chapter Twenty Six

He was leaning against the wall of the school as he watched them walk inside. His other friends weren't at school today, most likely skipping without him. He glared at Jack smile at his short, chubby friend who couldn't talk. After their encounter on Friday, his tongue was still sore from when the school nurse yanked him off of the railing in front of a bunch of freshmen.

In conclusion, Gerald hated Jack.

If that blonde midget wasn't with him, Jack would have been in more trouble than he bargained for. Gerald was fully aware who Sandy's associates were, who didn't? There was that huge Russian guy, North, who was surprisingly not one the wrestling team. A guy like that could take down a grizzly bear. There was also that tall guy from Australia, Aster, who had taken martial arts as a kid and rumor had it that all of the martial arts centers in Burgess wouldn't accept him claiming that "they had nothing to teach him".

Gerald let out a low growl. He longed for revenge on Jack, but he had no idea how. If he tried anything there was a high chance that white haired freak would outsmart him again.

"Lost in thought, Gerald?"

The misfit teen gasped and came face to face with the notorious Pitch Black. Pitch's arms were behind his back and the grin on his face was nothing but an omen that spelled trouble.

"M-Mr. Black! I swear I wasn't doin nuttin! Honest!" stuttered out Gerald. He was just as scared of Pitch as everyone else in the school. One wrong move and that man could send you out of the school in the blink of an eye. Within a heartbeat he could single handedly ruin your life.

"Calm down you dunce, I won't tidy up for you if you wet yourself here." Pitch shot at him. "And if you get on my nerves you'll be having nightmares for a week."

"T-Then why are you here?"

"I have something to negotiate with you. That means that I have a thought I'm sure you'd be interested in hearing."

"What's it got to do with me?"

"It has come to my attention that you have a bone to pick with none other than Jack Frost, am I correct?"

"How do you know that?"

"I get around more often than you'd think."

"What do you mean?"

"I just do."

Pitch folded his arms across his chest. He recalled passing by a window on Friday where he caught a glimpse of Gerald and his friends being humiliated by Jack. The whole epidemic was highly idiotic since Jack was way smarter than his antagonists, but Pitch had still watched everything unfold.

"Now listen up, you want to get back at Jack, right?"

"Uh huh."

"And I have a little plan to do so but I'll need someone else to carry it out with me. Are you willing to do that?"

"Umm…a-alright."

Gerald had no clue on what Pitch was planning, but he just wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

Pitch motioned the terrified teen to come closer so that he could tell him his plan. After five minutes of explaining everything in a hushed tone, Pitch stood back. "Do you understand?" he asked already expecting what the answer would be. Gerald scratched his head. "Uh…"

"Listen up you dolt, do you know about Toothiana? That over optimistic quack?"

"She's that tooth chick, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, yeah I know about her."

"And did you notice how she had a rather large abundance of photos with her?"

"No, I don't really pay that much attention to her."

"Anyway, I overheard her talking about how excited she was about looking through them today; during lunch, I assume."

"And what does this have to do with anything?"

"I'm just saying that it would be a shame if something had happened to them, wouldn't it?"

"Oh…oh! I get what you're saying."

"It took you long enough. So, during lunch I need you to lure them away from the table."

"How?"

"You'll think of something. Just distract them long enough for me to-"

"Mr. Black, what are they even pictures of?"

"How should I know? But they're important to Tooth and I need to look through them to see if there's anything I can use against them."

"Wait, you want me to help you so that you can blackmail them?"

"Just shut up. Or do you want me to become your worst nightmare?"

"N-no! Not at all Mr. Black!"

"I thought so. Now hurry up and get to class."

"But-"

"Now!"

Gerald fled the scene when Pitch had raised his voice. He didn't know what a bunch of photos could do, but he was too scared to ask.

Pitch watched his new temporary accomplice clumsily stumble on his way into the school. Honestly, he swore that the idiocy in this school would be the death of him someday. These students wouldn't know how to find a tree if they were lost in the forest. He just hoped that this would all work out in the end.

/

The day had went by so fast for Tooth. She wondered where the time had slipped away because she was sitting at her desk before in the class before lunch. It felt like she was sitting in North's van with Jack just a few seconds ago, not hours.

Clutching her new locket, thoughts of Jack instantly flooded her mind. Placing Jack in their group would have to be the best thing that Mr. Ombric has ever done, and Tooth would have to be sure to thank him later on.

Her eyes wandered to the stack of photos on her desk. Lunch was minutes away; she could wait a few minutes to look through them with everyone. But still, the temptation to take a peek at them right now was overwhelming. She had no idea what each picture held, and the suspense to see how each of them came out pushed Tooth into grabbing the deck. A second before she spread them out, the teacher made and announcement.

"Alright students, grab everything you'll need for lunch."

Tooth sighed and grabbed her lunch box. She was so close to looking through the pictures without her friends' consent, and she suddenly remembered that they were photos of Jack too. He should be there when they looked through them together. With that in mind, Tooth walked out of the classroom with her lunch box and her pictures; excited to know that she was moments away from browsing through them.

/

Jack was out of the classroom as soon as the teacher dismissed them. He hated his civics class, he'd rather learn about history than the different powers of the government.

As he walked through the hall he realized that today would be his first time eating lunch at a table with actual friends who acknowledged his existence. He'd always eat outside alone up until now and he'd isolate himself in the cafeteria in past grades. Sitting with friends at lunch was something he's never had the chance to do before, what should he even do? Unless they came outside into the cold to eat lunch, Jack would have to eat with them inside.

When the orphan reached the cafeteria doors he slowly opened them, unsure about what he was going to do. He scouted the cafeteria, trying to locate the table where he'd be supposedly sitting at, and saw Sandy wave to him from the back. Tooth was with him too, and Jack knew that that was the table he'd be seated at today. "Hey, Jack!" greeted Tooth. "I saved you a seat!"

She patted the chair to her right and motioned for Jack to come join her. North and Aster were in the lunch line, so Jack would be alone with his secret crush and mute best friend. What could possibly go wrong? Feeling welcomed, Jack sat in between Tooth and Sandy.

"Thanks, Tooth."

"No problem! Since we're all friends here, I didn't want you to be left out."

Jack was sure she was talking about how he are lunch outside with no one around. It's just occurred to him how sad and lonely he must have looked while doing that.

"And I have the pictures from Sunday! I don't know about you, but in dying to look through them."

"Yeah, so am I."

"Wanna do it now? Most of us are right here."

"Shouldn't we wait for North and Aster, first?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine if we do it now."

Tooth took the rubber band off if the stack of photos and spread them on the table. Because there were so many, they overlapped each other, hiding what they held in their frames. Tooth didn't even realize that Baby Tooth had taken any pictures or that they were covered under the pictures that she had taken herself.

Sandy picked up a photo of Jack hanging upside down from a tree branch coated in frost. He held it up to his friends, tilting his head as to why Jack was doing such a thing.

"I remember that," said Jack. "that was when Baby Tooth wanted me to climb up the tree."

While they sifted thoroughly the pictures, none of them came across any of the pictures Baby Tooth had taken. It was remarkable how many snapshots Tooth had taken alone. They didn't even see a greasy haired brunette glaring at them from afar.

Gerald watched as Jack laughed with his friends while holding up different photos. To him, it was all so stupid, and now it was time for him to walk over there. After all, Pitch would kill him if he didn't do what he wanted.

"Helloo ladies," he said as he casually walked over to them. The perky smile on Jack's face dropped. "What the heck are you doing here, Gerald?

"What he heck are _you_ doing here? You little match girl?"

"That doesn't even make sense! I'm not even related to being a match girl!"

Jack was shot daggers at Gerald. He had to remain calm, because they weren't outside anymore. The two of them were inside, surrounded by other people unlike the last time they tussled. If he started a fight now, he would get a detention for sure and he already had more than enough of those.

"Jack," Tooth whispered to him. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing. It's just that me and him kind of had a little scuffle on Friday."

"You got in a fight?! With him?!"

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a fight; more like an active disagreement."

"When on Friday did that happen?!"

"During lunch. This was before we were friends and you guys were all inside and I was outside. But there's not really a reason to fret, Tooth. He started it, anyway."

"How?"

"He and his friend thought it'd be funny to shove me in my locker. When we were outside, I threw a snowball at his back."

Gerald stood in front of the table tapping his foot in an act of impatience. He could see Pitch standing in the doorway of the cafeteria, his eyes focused on him. Th bully gulped, knowing that he'd have to act fast from now on before Aster and North came out of the lunch line.

"Hey Frost," he sneered. "you done gossiping with your bitch yet, or what?"

"Do NOT call her that!"

Sandy was surprised by how fast Jack shot out of his seat. Tooth was astonished as well, for Jack's behavior and for Gerald's language. If she wasn't in a cafeteria full of witnesses, she would have marched right over to the delinquent and smacked him across the face.

"Listen Gerald," Jack strictly spoke. "Tooth is _not_ a bitch, she is my _friend_ and I don't_ own_ her either. She's a human being that-"

"Did I strike a nerve there Frost? Don't you like me talking about her? If she's not a bitch, then what is she? A whore? Slut?"

Jack was about to pounce over the table and knock the daylights out of Gerald but Sandy held him back. However, Tooth acted instantly and rose from her seat. She didn't care that they were surrounded by people anymore, she just stomped over to Gerald and backhanded the smug look off of his face.

"I am not _any_ of those things!" she shouted at him.

Gerald held up a hand to the half of his face that was stinging. It didn't help that Tooth was wearing rings o her fingers either. But he was advancing in Pitch's orders. Tooth was away from the table, now he jut had to lure away Sandy and Jack. He searched around for something else to do when something that he couldn't miss caught his eye.

Tooth was wearing the nicest looking locket he'd ever seen.

* * *

**A/N: by the way, some of you wanted to see the fanart of chapter 6 that i mentioned and heres the link:**

** bente36,tumblr,com/post/52528137834/a-scene-chapte r-6-from-kill-the-lights-by**

**and see those comas? just replace those with periods and you should be able to open it**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: well this was fun to write and sorry it took so long to post, i recently got my first 3DS and ive been playing the new animal crossing game a lot not to mention how ive been spending time making tiny sailor moon charms for my friend's birthday :/  
**

Chapter Twenty Seven

Gerald knew that Pitch was counting on him and he was supposed to improvise, wasn't he? The locket dangling from Tooth's neck looked so valuable, so well kept, so... sentimental. In one swift movement, Gerald's arm shot out. Within in instant he had swiped the trinket off of her neck, breaking its fragile chain.

"Hey!" Tooth screamed at him as she reached out to grab her precious locket. Gerald spun on his heels and fled the scene, shoving open the cafeteria doors so that he could get into the hallway. Tooth didn't think twice before running after him, and neither did Jack. Sandy left the table to follow them as well, making all three of them chase after the thief. They had their lunch table and left all of the photos sprawled out across the table. Each one was facing up, enabling anyone to see what it held. North and Aster were in the lunch line while Sandy, Tooth, and Jack were chasing after Gerald, so nobody was there to see Pitch approach the table.

He moved the photos one by one. There was nothing interesting in the frames, it was all lovey dovey family bonding times. It made Pitch sick. There was even a picture of Tooth holding Jack's hand on the ice. He was a predator, not the paparazzi! Stupid pictures of Jack and Tooth with interlocked hands wouldn't do anything!

It wasn't until he was about to leave did he come across the perfect piece of blackmail.

Pitch picked it up; he didn't need all of the pictures anymore, all he needed was this one in particular. But still, it didn't hurt to see Tooth in a frenzy. He stashed a handful of random photos into his trench coat pocket an held the one he needed the most. It was the photo of Tooth being held down low by Jack. Instead of just holding hands, they were showing a major amount of affection together. Watching people become embarrassed always was amusing.

Pitch was about to skim through the rest of the pictures when he glanced up and saw North and Aster heading out of the lunch line with their trays. Dammit.

Oh well, he had more than what he needed anyways.

The one picture he kept would suffice enough and the other random ones would be scrapped in front of Tooth when he got the chance. Besides, it would be too noticeable if he had taken every single picture in one trip.

Slipping away like an eel, Pitch retreated back into the shadows of the cafeteria. He exited trough the doors just as North and Aster reached the table.

"Hey, didn't Tooth and Sandy used to be here?" North asked his friend. "And why are all of Tooth's pictures on the table?"

He sat down with Aster at his side. "Dunno." the Australian answered. "But maybe they went to go look for Frosty. The bugger was being late, after all."

"Then what's with Tooth's pictures scattered about?"

"Who knows? Maybe she was too antsy and wanted a sneak peek at them."

Aster made sure not to get any of his food on Tooth's pictures. She would murder him without a doubt if he did anything to tarnish them. Memories about anything were so important to her, as if they were each one of her children.

North opened his large carton of milk and chugged it down. He knew that Tooth and Sandy would return, and Jack would probably be with them. There was no reason to go searching for them if they would just wind up back here.

"Oi, North," Aster said while holding one picture in his hand. "Ya might wanna see this."

He held the picture out to North and the Russian almost spit out the milk he was drinking. His eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at what he saw in the frame, and then he started to laugh.

It was an image of Tooth lying on top of Jack and they were lustfully staring into each others eyes. They were even resting on top of a frozen lake together.

North's laughter eventually died down and Aster let out a low whistle at the next photo he was seeing. "They've got a lot of explaining to do."

/

Gerald swore in his mind that this must have been the most reckless and brainless stunt he's ever done. He never should have let Pitch influence him, because now he was zooming through the school and being chased by an albino brat, a dainty broad, and a mute kid who was in his senior year yet somehow still under five feet tall. This whole situation was so stupid!

The antagonistic misfit kept running. He turned corner after corner trying to lose his pursuers whose commands for him to stop went unnoticed. Tooth's locket was still in his hand, and Gerald didn't mind keeping it after today's hectic events. Something this valuable looking would fetch a pretty penny at a pawnshop.

Jack was racing after Gerald through the school. Being faster on his feet than Tooth, he had passed her already and she was behind. He weaved in and out of passing bystanders and had no idea where Sandy had gone. One minute he was at his side, the next minute he had vanished. Wherever Sandy had gone, Jack hoped that he was being useful there accounting that they still hadn't gotten Tooth's locket back from Gerald.

He couldn't help but feel guilty about all of this. He had no idea why Gerald had come over to their table in the first place, but Jack bet it had something to do with last Friday's events. However, Gerald _did _start the whole thing and Jack was the one who outsmarted him. But still, he didn't have to snatch Tooth's locket from her neck! That thing was a gift especially for her!

Gerald seemed to have spotted some stairs to climb up in an attempt to lose the two barking dogs at his heels. He ran past a set of lockers and towards the stairs but just as he was about to make it to the second floor and turn another corner, Sandy leaped out from behind the corridor and tackled him. How did he even know where to cut him off?

Both of them tumbled onto the floor where Sandy pinned down Gerald and allowed Tooth and Jack to catch up with them. "Whoa, remind me not to get on your bad side." Jack said when he saw that Sandy had handled the state of affairs on his own.

Sandy got up from the ground and held Gerald's hands behind his back in a deadlock grip. He grabbed Tooth's locket away from him and gave it back to his friend, who gladly took it.

Now that the locket was returned to Tooth, Gerald was surrounded by three students furious with him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jack barked at Gerald. "Just be glad that we're not outside, otherwise I'd-"

Jack stopped when Tooth took a step forward and swung her fist at Gerald's face, giving him a nosebleed. "That's for stealing my locket and calling me those names." she growled.

She shook her hand in the air. Her knuckles ached but it was worth it. First Gerald called her a bitch, then a whore, then a slut, and he even had the nerve to swipe her locket out from under her nose right in front of her! In Tooth's eyes, Gerald had asked for it.

His heart was racing a mile a minute knowing that he was in trouble, and Gerald desperately turned his head in every direction for a way out. That was when he saw Mr. Ombric walking down the hall. If he played his cards right, he might be able to win this game.

"Mr. Ombric, help! They're bullying me!"

Sandy scrunched up his nose. There was no way this was happening; it would be too stupid of Gerald to try to make _them _appear as the bad guys. At this rate, they'd never get back to the cafeteria before lunch ended.

Mr. Ombric's old aged eyes peered to the staircase leading to the second floor, and what he saw baffled him completely. The reason why Tooth, Jack, and Sanderson were standing there during lunch period was a mystery to him, but who was that child between them screaming for help? His face was familiar… that's right, that boy was Gerald from his third period class! Mr. Ombric rolled his eyes, wondering what that rapscallion of a juvenile had gotten himself into now.

"What seems to be the problem, here?" he asked while walking over. He took one look at Gerald's bleeding nose and said, "And what the devil happened to you?"

Tooth saw her favorite teacher approaching them and was about to start babbling about how Gerald called her such lewd names and stole from her but Gerald spoke up first.

"These guys are bullying me! And Tooth even punched me in the face! That's why my nose is bleeding!"

Gerald directed everyone's attention to Tooth and Mr. Ombric raised his eyebrows. Tooth was such a sweet girl, she must have been pushed really over the edge to break her composure and lash out at another student.

"And her friends chased me out of the cafeteria!"

"Only after you stole my locket!" Tooth interrupted. "And you're the one who called me those names!"

That seemed to peak 's interest. "What did he say to you?"

"Uh…"

"Or are you just making things up?"

Jack covered Gerald's mouth with his hand to keep him from interrupting. He nodded his head to Tooth, indicating that she should tell Mr. Ombric what she was called.

"Well, it's not exactly school appropriate…"

"I'll allow you to tell me. After all, wouldn't you just be quoting Gerald?"

"Yes…"

"Then go ahead."

"Okay."

She sucked in a deep breath and began reciting everything that had happened.

"So me, Sandy, and Jack were eating at our usual lunch table and then Gerald walked up to us for some reason and when Jack and I started to talk to each other Gerald called me a 'bitch' and then Jack stood up for me."

Tooth paused. Swearing was something that she was not fond of doing at all. There were four younger sisters at least half her age back home that she had to set an example for! She couldn't go around saying bad words even if she wanted to.

"And then Gerald said that I was a 'whore' and a 'slut', which I'm neither, and then he stole my locket! So then all of us went after it because my locket is very important tome, and I didn't want Gerald to get away with stealing it."

Recalling the past circumstances of events had made Tooth flare up like a fireplace on the inside. It took every ounce of self-control she had to keep from trembling in front of everyone. She even held her hands at her sides as to not slug Gerald in the face again in front of a teacher.

"Really?" Mr. Ombric commented. "I didn't know you had a locket."

"It was a present that I received this morning, before school."

"From who? Your parents?"

"No,"

Jack was in her sights as she continued and Sandy noticed how Jack didn't seem to look away from Tooth.

"Jack gave it to me."

"I see."

Young love was always blossoming in a high school environment, and Mr. Ombric was the oldest teacher at the school. He's been a teacher long enough to recognize when someone had a crush on someone else.

"As for your anecdote, Tooth, do you have anyone that can vouch for you?"

"Of course. Sandy and Jack were with me the whole time."

Knowing that Jack would most likely lie, Mr. Ombric turned to Sandy and raised an eyebrow at him in question. Sandy nodded in response, silently telling the teacher that Tooth was telling the truth about what had happened. She had left out some details, like how she punched Gerald in the face, but everything else she said was nothing but the truth.

Jack stood by with his hands in his pockets, not knowing if he should speak up or not. He had been in a fight with Gerald last week and if he slipped up, he might accidentally reveal information about it to a teacher and get in trouble. But without regard, he had lied himself out of countless confrontations.

Mr. Ombric took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. When he put them back on, he dealt out a resolution.

"Sandy, Tooth, Jack, you three may go back to the cafeteria. The three of you are done here for the time being. Gerald, you'll be coming with me to the principal's office to receive a punishment."

"What?! But-"

"But first, apologize to Tooth."

"Are we all forgetting what she did to me?! Just look at the sticky red liquid spewing from my nose!"

Sandy let go of his grip on Gerald who rolled his eyes. He knew that that smile on Pitch's face meant trouble, trouble for him.

He turned to Tooth and sighed out an apology.

"I'm sorry that I took your stupid locket and called you names."

"Oh yeah?" Tooth responded. "Well if it's so stupid, then why did you take it, huh?"

She cocked her head to the side and took a step forward. Mr. Ombric cleared his throat. "Apologize to her like you mean it."

"Come on! I-"

"Do you want to get into more trouble than you are in? Because I'm sure that it was you who put ice in the mascot suit last Tuesday."

"I told you I had nothing to do with that!"

Jack smirked and kept quiet. He was the one who had filled the mascot costume with ice two weeks ago, and he still hasn't been caught yet. Knowing that Gerald was a suspect only made him feel even better. The only drawback to his prank was that the mascot suit had smelled as if something threw up in there and died. Having tons of ice melt in there would be the closest thing it would get to a bath.

Sandy glanced at his wristwatch and saw that lunch was almost over. Gerald's proper apology to Tooth would have to be put on hold; they had to get back to the cafeteria now! He signaled to his friends how urgent it was that they go back and they got the message.

"Mr. Ombric," Jack spoke up. "I think you've got everything under control, so the others and I are going back to lunch where Aster and North are waiting for us. Okay?"

"Certainly, Jack. You may go."

"Alright, thanks."

The trio left Gerald with Mr. Ombric, content that they won't have to hear from him anymore, and Jack was relieved to be gone. He wasn't looking forward to any forms of detention, every extra hour he spent in school ate up any time he could spend with Jamie and Pippa and the other kids at the elementary school.

"I have to say Tooth," Jack said on their way back through the hallways. "It was interesting to see you punch Gerald so hard in the face that you made his nose bleed. He'll probably wake up with a bruise on it tomorrow."

"I usually don't really hit someone like that unless I have an actual reason to, and I was just teaching Gerald a lesson: don't mess with me."

"Haha. I think he got the message."

"So anyway, you said that he shoved you into your locker on Friday, right?'

"Yeah."

"And Mr. Ombric sent North to go find you, so he probably found your locker."

"Where are you going with this?"

"It's just that he didn't come back with you for maybe ten minutes. Why did it take him so long to get you out of your locker? Didn't you just tell him your locker combination?"

"And have North know how to open my locker? No thanks. I might open it up to candy canes and tinsel if he knew my combination."

"Fair enough."

Tooth had remembered what North had done to all of their lockers during Christmas last year. He had made all of them a customized wreath and hung them on their lockers. Even if they were a bit too flashy for Tooth's taste, she still appreciated the gesture. North even incorporated dental products like tooth brushes and floss into her wreath.

She and Jack kept talking for the rest of the journey back and Sandy walked between them, listening to their conversation intently. None of them were aware of what awaited for them back at the cafeteria, or what would happen later in the day.

/

Pitch snatched up the stolen photo from the scanner. It was now virtually saved on a sleek flash drive and he knew exactly what to do with it. After lunch, there would be an assembly in the gym for the senior population about life after graduation. A slideshow presentation will be shown to the student body, and it would be controlled by a laptop connected to the projector.

He had seen that presentation before, and it was terrible. Pitch thought that it could use some editing, and what he had newly saved on his flash drive would let him make some alterations that he knew Jack and Tooth would just love.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: so i ****_was_**** going to explain something to all of you concerning this fic and patience, but then it sounded a little mean so i decided not to do it**

Chapter Twenty Eight

"What kept you three?" Aster asked when he saw his missing friends sit down at the table. He and North had been waiting for them ever since they had gotten out of the long lunch line. Tooth was about to respond when North changed the subject and held up one of the photos. "What's this all about?"

It was an image of Tooth holding Jack's hand while they ice skated together.

"Let me see that!" Tooth demanded as she snatched the picture from North. She held it in her hands and had to do a double take to make sure that what she was seeing was real. She glanced at Jack, who was just as dumbfounded as she was. He was even blushing just like her! "When did you even take this?" he asked.

"I didn't! I was on the ice with you!"

"Then-"

"Hold on, didn't I leave my camera on the shore with Baby Tooth?"

Both of them paused and locked their gazes together as they kept blushing at each other. This was so embarrassing!

"She's three years old! She shouldn't be able to know how to work my camera!"

"Just because she's a kid doesn't meant that she can't get lucky."

Jack was doing his best to stay calm no matter how rattled he was on the inside. Did Baby Tooth do this on purpose? He looked down at the table and picked up more photographs, all of them containing him and Tooth on the ice. "Hey Tooth, your sister seemed to be busy with your camera. Didn't you see any of these before?"

"I told you I was busy! My other sisters had to print them!"

"But didn't they say anything?"

Sandy leaned back in his chair and watched Tooth and Jack squabble like a married couple. He turned his head to North and Aster, and both of them seemed to be entertained by the whole thing.

While a storm of discomfort raged around two of his friends, Sandy took a look at one of the pictures and studied it. Tooth and Jack were in the middle of the frame while standing on a frozen lake. Due to the forest background, Sandy inferred that they were at that lake by the park. It was the only lake in town that was probably still frozen anyhow.

He held the image up to his eyes and saw the subjects' faces. Tooth seemed to be worried and was staring at the ice while Jack kept a soft expression and helped her keep her balance. He was eve keeping his eyes locked on her. If Sandy didn't know any better, Jack seemed to be more focused on Tooth than anything.

/

It took Tooth and Jack five minutes to get over the pictures of them together. Tooth didn't want anyone to see them, so she stowed them away in her bag for safekeeping. She didn't know what she would do if anyone else in school saw her and Jack together like that. At least the only other people who saw them right now were her well trusted friends; but she was still shocked that it was Baby Tooth had who taken those pictures in the first place. When she got home, Tooth would have a talk with her.

"You are very good at ice skating, Jack!" North exclaimed while holding an image of his friend spinning through the air above the ice. Jack's figure was slightly blurry but North could tell how skillful he was on the glasslike lake. He was as agile as a professional figure skater.

"Thanks." Jack responded without even looking up. His attention was on one thing and one thing only: Tooth. The way she reacted to the pictures of both of them together, she wasn't angry at all. She didn't even seem like she hated them, she just looked embarrassed. Maybe he could try asking her out…

"So how did you and Frosty even get like this?" Aster asked to Tooth, holding up a photo of Tooth about to fall on top of Jack while they were on the ice. "You don't seem like the kind of person to make the first move."

"Shut up!" Tooth hissed at him, keeping her voice nothing above a whisper. "And stop saying stuff like that! Jack is sitting right next to me!"

"Heheh."

Tooth pouted at him. She could mostly handle Aster when he would tease her about her crush on Jack, but did he really have to do it now? Jack was sitting so close to her! He might end up overhearing! After all, Tooth was seen as a friend in Jack's eyes, it would be disastrous if he found out her secret.

In the meantime, Jack slouched in his chair and stuffed his hands in his pocket, rolling his shoulders forward. His toes curled inside his shoes and he felt his heart beat at a faster pace. He had overheard everything that Aster had said, and he knew that Tooth probably felt annoyed.

"I was just helping her ice skate." he cut in. "And she slipped; a common thing that happens when people go on ice. And because I'm her friend, I didn't her to fall and get hurt. Does that answer your question, Kangaroo?"

"Guess it does, Twinkletoes."

Jack left out the part of the story in which Tooth had pulled him down when she fell. Come to think of it, Jack wondered if Baby Tooth took a picture of that as well…

It was technically his fault that she fell, he never told her how to brake on the ice but at least she didn't get seriously hurt. Putting that aside, Jack turned his head over to Tooth once again.

The locket that he had given her was no longer hanging around her neck due to the chain snapping earlier, but Jack could see it stuffed inside Tooth's pocket. It was a shame that the piece of jewelry was only worn around her neck for such a short period of time, it fit so well with Tooth's appearance and Jack liked seeing her wearing it.

"Hey guys," Tooth said. "I'm going to go throw away some trash. Anyone want me to take theirs?"

North and Aster handed her their trays, which she took, and walked across the cafeteria. Lunch was almost at its end, they would all have to go soon.

With Tooth gone from the table, Jack was left alone with Sandy and the other guys.

The idea of asking Tooth out on a date was still on his mind. He was love struck as he thought about how fantastic it would be if they kissed on their first date. They had already kissed on Friday, when if it was only a mishap in a closet which caused an explosion of flour to rain down upon them.

Sandy tapped on Jack's shoulder and snapped him out of his smitten trance. "What do need, Sandy?"

North and Aster were bystanders as they watched Sandy make a heart at Jack with his hands and then point to Tooth.

"You want know if I like her?" Jack asked for clarification. Sandy nodded, making his pale friend tense up. Jack wasn't sure of he could trust his friends to keep his crush on Tooth a secret, they were all so close to her and they might tell her behind his back. Then again, he could trust Sandy with anything. It wasn't like he was going to accidentally blurt everything out in a conversation anyway.

"Alright, but you have to promise not to tell_ anyone_, you hear?"

Sand nodded to him and Jack leaned in close, not wanting North and Aster to hear him whisper.

"Listen Sandy, it's really important that you _never _tell Tooth about it. This is my first time having a crush on someone, I don't want it to blow up in my face and- why are you making that face? It's not funny! Sandy!"

Jack straightened up when he saw how Sandy was suddenly laughing at him. Why is he doing that? This isn't a joke! Jack_ really_ liked Tooth, and it was frustrating to know that Sandy was silently laughing at him. Having a major crush on one of your best friends wasn't funny at all.

Sandy was trying to keep his composure in front of Jack. He grasped the situation more than he did, because he knew the truth about both sides of the story. First Tooth made him swear not to tell Jack about _her_ crush on him, and now Jack was confessing _his_ affections for Tooth and how it should be kept a secret from her. The two of them liked each other, but were oblivious to it.

"What's the matter Sandy?" North asked at seeing his mute friend's sudden outburst. He knew that Sandy had asked something to Jack, and now he was laughing at whatever Jack said while Jack didn't think it was so funny.

"You gumby, weren't you listening?" Aster told North. "Jack fancies Tooth."

"Wait wait, you _heard _all that?" Jack urgently asked from across the table.

"Of course I did. I'm not deaf."

Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands. Sandy was the only one who was supposed to know! Now everyone knew about this crush on Tooth. He might as well walk up to her and let the cat out of the bag.

"Okay okay, the same applies to you two. You can't tell Tooth about it. Because I swear, I'll fill your lockers with ice if you tell her."

"Well Frosty, the funny thing is-"

Sandy frantically shook his head while waving his hands. He only stopped when Jack glanced at him, and continued when he looked away.

"Seriously, Sandy? Can't we just tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

Jack was confused. He saw Sandy shake his head to Aster while North joined in on the conversation.

"I think you should listen to Sandy." he said. "Jack isn't supposed to know."

"Know _what_? What the heck are you guys talking about?"

All of Jack's questions about what his friends were keeping confidential from him went unanswered. North and Aster kept their chat going on with Sandy's occasional headshake or nod. Jack felt like a character in the background of a movie. He might as well talk to the wall.

It was when Sandy saw Tooth coming back did he try to tell his friends to shut up and drop any topics relating to romance.

"I'm back everyone!" proclaimed Tooth as she took her seat near Jack. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Actually, Frosty here-ack!"

Aster was cut off when Jack kicked his from under the table. For a kid who had no muscle mass, he could kick pretty hard with that bony foot of his.

Tooth tilted her head at Aster's bizarre behavior and opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Sandy caught her attention and started a conversation with her. With Tooth's back turned to Jack, the orphan shot a death glare at Aster while slowly shaking his head. He should really be careful about who he tells his secrets to.

North regarded Aster and nodded to him, agreeing with Jack that Tooth shouldn't know about anything they talked about while she was gone. Jack had made them all promise not to tell Tooth about his love for her, even if his news would make Tooth ecstatic. But Jack didn't know that.

Aster leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. From his point of view, their whole situation was like something from a teen romance novel. Jack and Tooth had a crush on each other but neither of them knew. He, North, and Sandy were the only people in the whole school aware of it, and they had to keep their lips zipped.

Now Aster may not be a romantic, but he had an idea of how this cliché issue would end. Everyone will just end up happy in the end after a very frustrating journey.

Or the outcome will be the complete opposite.

One of the lovebirds might think that they have no chance with the other and just move on without knowing how the other feels. Either way, Aster knew that he and everyone else would get caught in the middle of it.

"Isn't there an assembly after lunch today?" North asked, diverting everyone's attention. "I think it's the one for the seniors that we all have to go to."

"I talked to some of the teachers this morning," Tooth added. "and they said that there's going to be this slideshow projected on one of the walls in the gym while a speaker talks to us about what's going to happen once we all graduate."

"Great." Jack groaned. "Because that's _exactly_ what I wanted to see at school on a Monday."

Even though he knew that the assembly may give him ideas about what he can do after school is over, Jack still hated school assemblies. They're just like class except with more people. One person talks in front of a large amount of students who can do nothing but sit there and do nothing. And the worst kinds of school assemblies were the ones where some perky wannabe blabbed on and on about something as if the audience had lived under a rock their entire life.

But the assembly they were about to go to will most likely just be someone talking about why you should go to college after school is done. As if twelve years of education wasn't enough.

In summary, Jack didn't like school assemblies at all.

Tooth began to gather up all of the photos that she had brought with her and counted each one individually, as to make sure that none of them had gotten lost during lunch. It was when she was almost done the announcement came on:

"Will all graduating seniors report to the gymnasium for a mandatory presentation. Again, will all graduating seniors please report to the gymnasium for a mandatory presentation. Thank you, that is all."

"Guess it's time to get this show on the road." Aster remarked. All of them rose from their seats, and Jack stayed behind to stand by Tooth as she kept counting her photos.

"Time to go, Tooth." he told her. "Are you done yet?"

"Hold on, I need to recount them again."

"Why?"

"Because I'm missing some! And not just some, a lot! I had sixty pictures with me and now eleven of them are gone! I don't even know which ones either!"

"Relax, Tooth. I'm sure some of them just dropped on the floor."

Jack bent down and scoped out the floor around them in an attempt to find any of Tooth's missing photographs. Nothing.

"I don't see anything here besides gum on the bottom of the table."

"Then where else could they be? I already accounted the ones I put away and the ones on the table."

"Didn't you just save them to your computer before you printed them?"

"My hard drive was full from other pictures from my mom's birthday and I didn't have that much room left. I was going to scan these pictures once they were done printing so that I could save them to my flash drive but my sisters wanted me to take them to school first."

"What about your camera? Aren't they still there?"

"My mom had to borrow my camera to take pictures of my sisters' ballet performance today, so even if they were there she'd probably replace them with other pictures."

Everyone in the cafeteria was filing out the doors. If they didn't leave now, they'd get left behind.

"Tooth, I think we have to go now."

"But-"

"Listen, I know you're anxious right now, but we can come back here later and look some more. How does that sound?"

"Well…"

"And besides, maybe you dropped them in the hallways somewhere. We can keep an eye out for them while we walk down with the crowd."

"I guess you're right. Let's go then."

Tooth was still upset that she had lost eleven of her photos, but Jack had a point. They could be waiting for her in one of the hallways, and then she'd just pick them up when she would walk by. She had to think positive; otherwise she'd panic and might lose even more pictures.

Tooth felt around in her pocket to make sure that the locket Jack had given her this morning was still there. Ever since Gerald snapped the chain, it had been residing there for safe keeping. When she would get home she would have to find a new chain to put it on. That reminded her, the dolphin charm necklace that Sandy had made for Jack still needed a chain. On Sunday night it had just rested on her dresser, half forgotten.

"Are you ready, Tooth?"

"Yeah."

Together, both of them left the cafeteria and joined up with their other friends. None of them were expecting what was about to happen, they just traveled through the hallways together.

* * *

**A/N: hii everyone. sorry this took so long -_-'**

**FlowersForAGhost: ok, can i just say that your review is exactly what i needed at the time. its good to know that theres someone out there who isnt badgering me for the another update and rushing me to post it. and thank you for your compliment. youve made me feel good about writing this ;A;  
**

**theres a lot of stuff happening in my life right now. and even though school is out, im still as busy as ever. ill be starting a charm making business and i have to start making A TON of products to sell later in the year. i just want to get this fic done so that i can start writing my last multi chapter fic and then that will be it for a while (aside from some little oneshots ill be posting after that).  
**

**anyway, i dont know how long itll take for the next chapter to be up but it will come sooner or later**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: okay before you say anything, I NEVER MEANT TO MAKE ANY OF YOU FEEL GUILTY ASDFGJHKFL. i get that all of you like this story, but its just the reviews that are literally nothing but someone telling me to update that stress me out. **

**im still writing this fic, and right now these chapters have kinda been a whole 'bonding time' between jack and tooth so that the climax will really leave an impression. basically, im just building up their relationship before all the big stuff happens :P  
**

Chapter Twenty Nine

An array of chairs lined the gymnasium floor, waiting for students to come fill them in. All of the seniors were gathered, engulfing what little space there was in the room. From jocks to wallflowers, every senior clique was present. Even the students who do drugs behind the school were standing I the farthest corner of the gym.

"I don't see any empty seats near the front." North stated, towering over everyone with his tremendous height. He was taller than Aster, so he could clearly see over everyone's heads.

"I bet there'd be some seats in the back." Jack said. "We just have to get there."

They had to push their way through the crowd to reach the far side of the packed gym. It was times like this where Sandy would become frustrated about his height, because he felt like a child walking through a forest of moving trees. Every student around him was at least three inches taller than him and some were almost twice his height.

"Oh! I see an empty row back there!" Tooth pointed out. There was an empty row of chairs near the wall and the group of five migrated towards them.

"I can't wait to leave this school." Aster mumbled. "Then I'll go somewhere that's not overcrowded."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Jack commented. They were attending the only high school in Burgess that was actually decent enough to afford while still providing a proper learning environment. The other schools were either kept together with paper clips and gum or only affordable for the preppy rich kids who live in the mansion sized houses. If Tooth's family wasn't so modest and if they didn't schools like that were overrated, Tooth would probably be enrolled there.

"What time does the assembly start?" North asked. Sandy glanced at his watch and held up three fingers, indicating they had three minutes until the presentation began.

"This better be interesting." Jack cursed under his breathe. It wasn't until they all took their seats did Jack become nervous. Tooth sat next to him and because of how many people were in the gymnasium, she was sitting closer to him than usual.

/

Pitch leaned against the wall in the back of the gym, shrouded in the dark corner and unseen. He had already completed his task of tweaking the slideshow and it would premier any minute. If only he was up front, then he could look over the crowd and see Jack and Tooth's horrified reactions.

The projector in the middle of the room turned on and shot the cover image of the slideshow on the front gymnasium wall for everyone to see. Once all of the senior students had calmed the noise level to a small silence, the speaker of the assembly stepped out. She was a snazzy dressed woman with a microphone in her hand which she used to address her audience. "Gooooood afternoon future graduates of Burgess High!"

The speaker was standing too close to the speakers and they emanated a high pitched screech that caused everyone to cover their ears in annoyance. Even though her audience did not want her to continue, the perky speaker kept talking.

"Now, I know that the school year is half over and do all of you know what that means?"

A girl sitting in the front row raised her hand to answer the question but she went ignored. Instead, the speaker continued her one sided conversation.

"That's right! In a few months all of you will be finished with school! And that means that you'll be starting your independent lives!"

Jack leaned back in his chair. From his point of view, this was going to be the worst school assembly of the whole school year just from how cheerful and perky the speaker was. Her overly positive attitude was annoying and how she was lecturing on about "how important college is" was just mocking Jack. He couldn't even go to college if he wanted to, making him apathetic.

"And when you graduate high school you have two choices: go to college or try to live on your own and try to get a job! What I recommend is going to college, that way you won't be doomed to an eternity of working in the luxury of fast food and impatient clients."

Pitch had only been present for two minutes of the assembly and he already wanted to shove the speaker out the door. She was the worst kind of people, always seeing everything as sunshine and happiness and being too happy when talking. He loathed her entire personality, and no wonder barely any of the other teachers showed up for the assembly.

"As you can see behind me, a slideshow has been prepared and is being projected on the wall for all of you to see. Right now it's only displaying the cover slide, but I'll show all of you the benefits of continuing your education after high school with one click of a button!"

This was is. Pitch knew it.

Once he had scanned Tooth's photos onto a flash drive, he had tapped into the laptop the speaker's slideshow was held on and did whatever he pleased with the slides. All of them but the cover slide had been altered, and within seconds Tooth would find out what had become of the missing pictures that had vanished out from under her.

Tooth had her focus on the projected slideshow. Aside from the speaker, she might enjoy this assembly. It seemed informative and it never hurt anyone to know more about college. Her plan for attending college was already made but after today, Tooth may find a way to improve it.

To her left, Jack was sitting next to her and looked as if he might fall asleep any second. "Jack, pay attention!" Tooth whispered to him. "You might learn something!"

"Why? None of this even-"

"Shhh! She's about to start the presentation!"

Jack just crossed his arms and kept his attention up front. Who knows? Maybe he _could _learn something new after this assembly was over, not that he wanted to be at the assembly anyhow.

The speaker said a few more words and pulled out a small device from her pocket. There were two buttons on it, making it look similar to a small remote. Her back was turned to the projection as she clicked a button, causing the title slide to transition to the next slide.

Gasps escaped the audience and a thick silence loomed over them. However, the speaker's back was still turned and she was unfazed.

"Now I know that where you can end up without a college degree can be shocking, but if you- OH MY WORD!"

Dropping her microphone, the speaker was as stunned as her audience.

Instead of displaying the slideshow she had made, it was something different.

It was a familiar looking boy with white hair holding a well-known girl with colorful hair down low, as if he was about to kiss her. They were standing on a frozen lake and as the speaker furiously smashed the buttons on her remote repeatedly, the different slides still showed the same people in different romantic positions with the same background.

Everyone could only sit in their seats and stare at what was happening, but none of them were as shocked as Tooth and Jack sitting together in the back row. They were mortified.

Jack sank down low into his seat, not wanting to be seen, and Tooth was frozen like a statue. Her eyes were wide, her heart seemed to have stopped pumping blood to her brain, and her mouth was open but no words came out. She just wanted to scream, but she couldn't.

"Umm…I am so sorry but I did not plan any of this!" the frazzled speaker apologized. "I don't even know who these people are!"

Panicking, she eventually just ran over to the projector and turned it off.

"What the 'ell was that all about?!" Aster urgently asked Tooth. "Why were you and Jack on-"

"I-I don't know! I didn't do anything!"

"Then-"

"Wait! Wait!"

Tooth turned to Jack. "Remember how I was missing some pictures before we left the cafeteria?"

"Yeah,"

"Th-The ones we just saw! Those were probably them!"

"But if they were, then why were they in the slideshow?!"

"I-"

Tooth seemed to have lost her voice when she realized people were staring at her and Jack. Everyone sitting around them had their heads turned to them, with a pestering look of curiosity on their faces.

"Are you two dating?"

"Hey guy with white hair, what's your name?"

"Why'd you guys put your pictures on the thing?"

Even though the slideshow was presented for only a few minutes, everyone had gotten a quick glimpse at each slide. The crowd bombarded them with questions and some of the girls even leaned in closer to hear what Tooth and Jack would have to say. They paid no attention to Sandy, North, and Aster, who were trying to get them to back away. "Will all of you just shut up?" Jack harshly spat at them. "Ever heard of personal space?"

He hated all of this sudden attention, and he knew that they were making Tooth uncomfortable. She was still feeling uneasy about seeing an album of the pictures Baby Tooth had taken blown up onto the wall in front of the entire senior population. All of the pigment in her face had been flushed out of her system when she had seen it, but she still wanted to know _why _they were there in the first place.

Pitch saw a large portion of the crowd turn to where Tooth and Jack were sitting. He could tell it was them by how their hair was colored, because no one else had hair like theirs in the entire school. The speaker had her hands on her laptop, editing and deleting everything from her slideshow and Pitch thought it was time to go inform the principal what had happened. After all, he was sure the principal would be interested in what he would have to say.

Pitch walked out of the gymnasium to the less noisy hallway. When he reached the principal's office, he knocked on the door and prepared to tell his advisor how he saw Jack Frost near the laptop that belonged to today's speaker. It was completely false information, but Pitch would play his cards in a complex manner to make it sound true. He was a member of the school staff, so hoodwinking anyone would be easy.

/

The assembly was supposed to have ended half an hour ago but because of the technical difficulties, it was delayed. The speaker was still recovering her slideshow and the senior student body was still gathered in the gymnasium with everyone still focused on the previous events.

"Do you think you've calmed down enough, Tooth?" North asked her from the other side of the row.

"Yeah," she responded. "Yeah, I-I think so."

Jack was talking to Sandy and Aster while trying to look as if he wasn't embarrassed when he looked over to the doorway of the gym and saw the principal; with non-other than Pitch Black standing at his side. "And here I thought this whole thing couldn't get any worse."

The principal, Dr. English, was just told of the misdemeanor by Pitch and had come to the gymnasium to settle everything out. He spotted where Tooth and Jack were sitting in the back and walked over to them. "Mr. Frost, Ms. Fairie, I'd like you two to come to my office for a word with me."

When Tooth had seen the angry principal request that they go to his office, she felt her knees get weak and tried to keep calm. She's supposed to be a role model for her sisters! She can't get a detention now! Ever since she was in first grade she had kept a clean slate when it came to disobedience within school; and now it seemed like today it would be tarnished.

"Just stay calm Tooth," Jack whispered into her ear. "it'll be alright in the end. And I'll make sure you won't get into any trouble."

The two teens rose from their seat and they both brushed past Pitch as they accompanied Dr. English to his office. Just before they left the gym, Jack looked back to where Pitch was standing with a devious smirk on his face, as if he had won a game agaisnt them. Pitch's reaction planted itself into Jack's mind, and he couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Mr. Frost, hurry up. I won't have you stalling."

Jack closed the gymnasium door and quickened his pace.

/

It was unnerving to sit in the principal's office for disciplinary reasons. Tooth had never been sent to the office because she was in trouble, it was usually so that she could talk to him about school events. But she wasn't talking about any of that with him today, because she was a victim that was going to take the heat for something she had nothing to do with. She couldn't help but feel paranoid about what her mom would say about all this.

Dr. English sat behind his desk, his hands interlocked while his chin rested upon them. "Well?" he sternly asked. Tooth swallowed hard, not knowing that to say. On the other hand, Jack had been sent to the principal office multiple times, so he was experienced with talking to the principal.

"Watcha wanna know Dr. English?" he mocked. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Jack smiled and watched his school principal sigh while rubbing his temples.

"Jack, you've been in here far too many times."

"Hey, what can I say? And by the way, this is my first time coming here in months. That may be a new personal record."

"And you've managed to drag poor Toothiana here with you."

"What do you mean? It's not-"

"Not long ago, Mr. Black brought some…interesting news to my attention. He reported seeing you near Ms. Darcy's-"

"Who the heck is Ms. Darcy?"

"The speaker at the assembly today, the one you degraded."

"What? You think I did that?"

"Mr. Black _did_ see you near her laptop before the assembly. I think he said it was near the ending of lunch when he saw you."

"So you're going to believe _him_? I didn't have anything to do with her slideshow! And I wasn't remotely close to any laptop during lunch!"

"Well, if you didn't do it, then who did hmm? Who else would do something like that? Even if it were a bit… bold."

Tooth glanced at Jack and mouthed 'what?' to him. He just responded with a shrug, equally as dumbfounded as she was. None of them even realized that Pitch was standing outside the door, eavesdropping.

Dr. English kept talking and Pitch scowled at what he was hearing. The principal was supposed to deal a punishment to Jack _and_ Tooth, but he guessed he would just have to settle with Jack getting in trouble for now. But he should have known trying to put Tooth behind bars would fail even if she was the one who committed the crime.

Tooth was too different from Jack. Teachers trusted her, she was an honor student, and her permanent record was flawless. Then there was Jack, who was just lucky that he wasn't expelled from school yet. He would always be skipping classes, show up unexcused, and pulled too many pranks for a super computer to count. The type of student Jack is would be the contrast of what Tooth is, they're opposites.

Pressing his ear to the door, Pitch listened closer.

"Do you want me to pull up the security camera? Because I'll pull up the footage recorded throughout the entire day if I have to."

"Okay... I'll admit it. Maybe I had _something_ to do with the lady's-"

"Ms. Darcy."

"with Ms. Darcy's presentation."

Tooth's eyes widened and she turned to Jack. "What are you doing?" she whispered. Jack just winked at her and continued his lie.

"And I'll just save all of us time by saying all this stuff now. Trust me, I've got more important things to do than sit in here for an hour."

Jack placed his hands behind his head and casually rested in his chair, as if he lived in it. He was amused by how Dr. English was like a volcano waiting to erupt while Tooth was just a bystander. But Tooth had never gotten in trouble like he had, and she didn't know Dr. English like he did.

"So yeah, you caught me. I'll even put my hands up. By the way, are those degrees on your wall real? Because you never told me the last time I was here and you can get fired if they're-"

"Jack, you are testing my patience and I must ask you to please step outside and wait by my office."

"Really? And I thought we were having _such_ a nice time together."

"GO!"

"Alright alright, I get it. You're kicking me out early."

"No, you will stand by the door and wait until you are called back in. I must speak to Ms. Fairie in private and you are not to move an inch away from here unless instructed. Understand?"

"Yes, dear."

Tooth giggled to herself at Jack's behavior. At least he was lightening up the mood a bit. He even winked to her again on his way out the door, leaving her with the principal. Tooth kept her attention to Dr. English, knowing he would have something important to say.

"I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble Jack has caused you."

"What? Dr. English, Jack had-"

"I'll make sure to give him a proper detention if not suspension. And I don't know how he made those slides, but he won't get away with doing it."

"But Jack and I-"

"And you will not be put into any kind of trouble because of him. Once I call him back in, he will apologize to you."

"But it wasn't even Jack who did it! He-"

"Don't try to cover for him, Mr. Black told me everything I needed to hear concerning-"

"Except that Pi- Mr. Black, lied-"

Dr. English held up his hand, showing her that she no longer needed to talk. He called Jack back in before Tooth could explain what really happened and made him sit back down.

"Pitch was out there," Jack whispered to Tooth. "and I think he was listening to us in here. It probably _was_ him who sabotaged the slideshow."

"Ahem,"

Dr. English cleared his throat.

"Jack, is there something you would like to say to Toothiana?"

"I dunno, is there?"

Tooth still couldn't wrap her mind around how calm Jack was acting. He could get suspended! And here he was acting like a smart aleck to his principal!

"Apologize to her."

"I was going to do that anyway. I wasn't raised in a barn, you know."

Jack turned to Tooth with a smile on his face. "I'm sorry Tooth; I didn't mean to upset you. I was just looking for a laugh."

Dr. English cocked an eyebrow at Jack. "And?"

"And... I'm sorry I used those images without your permission."

"That's more like it. Tooth, you are dismissed."

Despite being apprehensive about leaving Jack, Tooth knew she wasn't permitted to stay. She walked to the door and wondered if Pitch was still out in the hallway waiting. The thought of going out there alone with no one around but Pitch sent shivers down her spine.

Tooth took one last look at Jack, who waved to her, and she exited out the door.

* * *

** A/N: so i just realized that the fanfictions i write are like novels you read on the internet because of how insanely long they are ;A;**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: holy sh*t its july already and i started this fic before school ended wtf am i even doing ;A;  
**

Chapter Thirty

Tooth closed the door and scoped out the hallway, pondering if Pitch was still out here like Jack had said. He was right, because Pitch was lurking in the corner of Tooth's eye. "Something the matter, Tooth?"

She swallowed her fears of Pitch and marched directly up to him.

"You listen here, Pitch! You know what I think? I think it _was_ you who sabotaged the whole slideshow! You lied to the principal and now Jack is taking the heat for it!"

Tooth's hands were balled up into fists which she kept at her sides. As much as she wanted to, she knew it would be a bad idea to lash out at Pitch in front of the principal's office. "And I bet you're the reason why I'm missing some of my pictures! You put them in the slideshow, didn't you?"

"You mean these?"

Pitch reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a handful of photographs. He held them up to Tooth, but pulled them back when she tried to reach out to them. They were the same images that were inserted into the slideshow at the assembly, and Tooth wanted them back.

"How did you even-"

"You should really learn to keep track of your possessions. You left them alone for a few minutes and made it way too easy to take them. If I didn't know any better, it was as if you wanted me to take them."

A light bulb went off in Tooth's head, as she became fully aware of what Pitch had done. He had taken advantage of the situation when Gerald had swiped her locket that she was sentimentally fond of. When they all ran after him, they abandoned their lunch table and left all of their stuff there. And what was strewn all over the surface of the table? Her valuable pictures; and Pitch must have used their absence as a sign that he could walk up to the table and take however many he wanted.

He was even holding the stolen photos right in front of her, proof that he was the culprit who changed the slideshow. Tooth had to get back what was rightfully hers, but Pitch placed his other hand on the pictures. Then he tore them in half.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Tooth could do nothing but witness Pitch tear up her photos right in front of her until there was barely anything presentable left. "You're always paying attention in class, let this be a lesson to you about cause and effect."

He threw them on the ground, as if they were nothing, and then he just walked away victorious.

The door clicked open.

"Tooth? What are you still doing here? I thought you went back to class."

Jack stood by her side and saw the scene before him. He picked up a sliver of what remained of the photos and held it up. "What's all this?"

Tooth quietly knelt down, and gathered the scattered pieces of photo paper. "These are the pictures I was missing at lunch, the ones from the slideshow."

"Oh. Why are they all torn up?"

That was when Tooth finally let out all of her frustration that she was felling. It had been bottled up inside her like soda and when the cap was loosened, it exploded out.

"It's all because of Pitch! While you were in the office, he was here, talking to me. As it turns out, he had my pictures all along! He _stole_ them to use against us and look at them now!"

Jack picked up another fragment of the photos. He could see Baby Tooth's face in it, and he was standing behind her while she sat on the swing at the park. These pictures weren't just the accidental ones Baby Tooth had taken, but they were the ones Tooth had taken too. The ones that she held high regards in.

Once Tooth had gathered all of the shredded remains, she angrily threw them down the nearest garbage can. "This is terrible! No one is going to believe us if we tell them the truth about what Pitch did and now you- uh, what did Dr. English do to you?"

"Well, we argued for a bit and I could tell he just wanted to get me out of his office when I could see how red his face was. There was even a vein in his forehead that was about to burst if I didn't leave. He hates me more than anyone at this school."

"You're not getting suspended, are you?"

"Nope. After some high strung negations, I just got lunch detention for the rest of the school year. Looks like I won't be eating with you guys for a while."

"But why did you take the blame in the first place? You could have gotten kicked out of school!"

"Actually, I-"

"And then what would you do? If you got kicked out of school, where would you go? They put that kind of stuff on your permanent record and colleges look at that kind of stuff, Jack! I just think that you-"

"Tooth!"

"Hm?"

"What I'm trying to say is, I actually had a whole reason behind taking that blame and lying about how I did it and all that."

"What? But you could have easily been proven innocent! If you would have just let Dr. English pull up that security camera footage, then-"

"He would be watching my every move through the entire day. He'd see footage of me in my classes, at lunch, and with you in the hallways when you punched Gerald in the face. An honor student or not, you still gave him a bloody nose during school, and I didn't want the principal would want to see you doing something like that. You could have gotten in serious trouble."

"You mean that…you took all the blame for me? All because you didn't want to risk me getting in trouble?"

"Why wouldn't I? Like you said before, stuff like that goes on your permanent record and colleges look at those kinds of things. Sandy told me how you'll be going to college to become a dentist and if they look at your record and see that you gave another student a bloody nose, I don't think they'd like it. I even told you that I wouldn't let you get into trouble on our way down to the office."

"And because of that you got a year's worth of lunch detentions?"

"Yup. I know how you take school more seriously than I do."

Tooth was speechless. She didn't know if she should feel guilty or hug Jack for doing what he did. He was so bold and selfless, and Tooth is positive that her mom would kill her if she found out she punched another student in the face during school. But if Tooth hadn't broken her composure in the first place then she never would have punched Gerald and Jack wouldn't have had any motives to lie in order to keep her out of trouble.

"And another thing, I have to serve in detention today with some teacher, so I won't be able to do anything with you guys after school."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, it's not that big of a deal and I don't think we have that much left to work on for the Easter egg hunt."

Jack continued to walk down the hallway and Tooth followed. They were supposed to be going to their elective class but none of them had a clue about what the other students would say when they would walk into the classroom together. Everyone at the assembly had already questioned them by asking if they were together and who knows how they would react now that the assembly was over. Rumors spread like wildfire in a high school, and it was only a matter of time before news of this silly little story would cross the borders and reach the lower classmen.

"I still want to know more about Pitch's involvement in all this." Tooth said as they turned a corner. "How did he even know about the pictures I brought with me? It's not like I went around telling the whole school, it was just you guys."

"Maybe he was spying on us. That seems to be his hobby. I told you he was a creep. That guy needs to get a social life with people his age, not us."

"What if he was just trying to scare us? I was frozen stiff at the assembly and terrified while sitting in the office."

"I wasn't that nervous in the office but I have to admit, I was really surprised when our picture showed up on the slideshow."

Jack chose his words wisely to disguise how ill at ease and rattled he had actually felt. It was one thing to have all of your friends see images of you looking like you're dating you friend, but the whole senior population? He didn't even know how to describe it. If he wasn't careful, then Tooth could find out about his crush on her from someone else.

"And when I was told to wait outside the office, I think Pitch was actually waiting for me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing important…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but I think he planned all of this."

"What do you mean? I get that he messed up the whole assembly, but the way you're talking makes it sound like he had more steps to his plan."

They passed a set of lockers and continued down the hall.

"Remember when Gerald just walked up to our table at lunch? What if Pitch told him to do that?"

"You think Pitch used Gerald to-"

Tooth stopped and stood in the middle of the hallway.

"You okay Tooth? Tooth?"

The world around her vanished as guilt swept over Tooth like a tidal wave. She already blamed herself for giving Jack a reason to lie in the office, but none of this would have even happened if it wasn't for her.

She was the one who wanted to look through all of her pictures early so she took them out during lunch before North and Aster had sat down at the table. When Gerald came over to talk to them, she had gotten out of her seat and slapped him. It was there where he noticed her locket, and then Tooth chased him out of the cafeteria. Jack and Sandy followed her lead, and left the table out in the open for Pitch to come along.

This whole mess really _was_ all because of her.

If she had just waited for North and Aster to sit down at the lunch table, she never would have taken the photos out. If she had just contained her temper, then she never would have rose out of her seat and Gerald never would have noticed her locket. And now her locket, a gift from Jack, was sitting in her pocket with its chain snapped.

Jack snapped his fingers in Tooth's face. "Hey Tooth, are you done zoning out?"

"I…"

"What's on your mind?"

"I just realized that…all of this happened because of me."

"What? You can't be serious,"

"Think about it! Everything that I did lead to another thing! When I left Baby Tooth on the shore of the lake with my camera, she accidentally took photos of us together. Then I spread out the pictures on the table because I was too impatient and when I punched Gerald in the hallway I wasn't even thinking of the consequences and when we were in the office I just sat there and watched you take all the blame for Pitch!"

"Come on Tooth, you don't really feel all guilty about this, do you? I think you're overthinking-"

"But what about when I stepped out of the office? I was in the hallway with Pitch as tore up the pictures that he stole and what did I do? Nothing!"

Jack steeped closer to Tooth grabbed her shoulders, quieting her down. His icy blue eyes were locked with hers and he talked in a hushed tone so that only she could hear him. "Listen Tooth, don't think about what happened earlier, because trust me when I say this; everything that has happened so far is not your fault at all."

The feeling that everything you do starts a chain of misfortune was too familiar to Jack, and he didn't want Tooth to go through it. She should be happy that she survived with just a few photos as her casualties, not wallowing in disgrace. "If you keep acting like this, then it'll become a habit to blame yourself for everything that has nothing to do with you. You didn't know what would happen, so don't bring yourself down by acting guilty. Okay?"

Tooth was stunned by how stern Jack was. Seeing him so serious didn't fit his character at all, and he didn't even break eye contact or blink while talking. His words echoed in her mind, convincing her that she should just let go and stop blaming herself for what happened. "I…okay."

She smiled, making Jack smile too. "I think you're right, I was just overthinking."

"Told you. Feel better?"

"Yeah."

"Great."

"Thanks."

What Tooth did next surprised Jack; she hugged him. It was Jack's turn to be stunned and at first he just stood there, before wrapping his arms around Tooth as well. He could feel his heart threaten to break out of his chest over how it kept pounding and pounding. Hugging Tooth after cheering her up felt sensational.

Tooth's head was on his shoulder and she closed her eyes, not caring how close she was to Jack in the middle of an hallway. No one was around to see them, and there were currently no security cameras peeping at what they were doing. When she took her head off of him, her big round eyes gaped at him and he didn't say a word as he stared back.

They were embracing each other, their faces were only a few inches away from touching, and no one was around to stop them. Tooth couldn't help herself, she moved in a centimeter at first, and Jack did the same. Then they moved in by inches.

Inch by inch as the seconds passed, they leaned in closer and closer. Both of them had shut their eyes, and their lips were only a centimeter apart. They were seconds away from making contact until-

_Riiiiiiiiinnnngg!_


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: heeyy everyone! i _would_ put something here but instead ill just respond to some reviews at the bottom of this chapter .A.**

Chapter Thirty One

They broke apart immediately after the bell rang and each stepped back a few paces. For a while they just stared at each other not uttering a word, until Tooth quickly changed the subject and said, "I-I guess we missed our cooking class, huh?"

"Ye-ah...we did."

"So uh, see you around, I guess."

"Yeah...see you around."

When students began to file out of the classroom Tooth and Jack parted ways in the hallway, going off to their separate classes. Despite being drastically shaken by what almost happened, both of them pushed the thought to the back of their minds and tried not to think about it. They had other topics to stress over, like what people who were at the assembly would say once they saw them.

Jack took his time when walking to the locker room for his gym class. He wasn't looking forward to facing anyone there and he just wanted to distract his mind from everything. But even when he was changing into his gym uniform he couldn't stop himself from reminiscing about Tooth. If the bell hadn't rung, and if he had actually kissed her, their plutonic friendship would have been swept out the door. And then what would happen?

He didn't mean to do it at first, but he was just caught up in the mood and he was so close to Tooth. She made his brain think stupidly, and it was because he loved her.

But what if he really did kiss Tooth? Would she kiss him back? Would she even tolerate it or just push him away?

Fictional outcomes about what could have been made real plagued Jack's thoughts. With every second that passed he found himself questioning his actions more and more. If only he had known what was going through Tooth's head in the hallway…

He slammed his locker door, and concluded to himself that he was an idiot for making a move. Before Tooth had hugged him, he had just brightened her mood and if their lips were interlocked when the bell rang, everyone who walked out of their classrooms would see them. As if the entire school didn't think they were dating already.

"Hey, hey you,"

An unfamiliar voice spoke to Jack and he looked over his shoulder to see some random student standing close to him. "What?" Jack asked, already having an idea what this kid may want.

"Aren't you that guy from the slideshow at the assembly today?"

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Of course that's what you'd ask."

"Soo? Aren't you that guy?"

"Yes, I'm that guy."

"And wasn't that girl Toothiana Fairie?

"Yeah, but-"

"Are you two dating?"

"No, we're just friends. That's it. We're nothing else."

"Oh I see, you two are friends with benefits!"

"What? No!"

"Then why were you holding her like that in the-"

"Go away."

"But-"

"Leave."

Jack's words came out harsher than he expected and the other boy drooped his head while walking away. Walking to his class's designated gym; Jack knew that he would have to deal with other people pestering him about whether or not he was dating Tooth.

He wasn't dating Tooth, they were just friends. The two of them couldn't be anything else other than really close friends, and maybe that's the reason why he was so angry at everyone who brought it up.

/

Tooth sat at her desk in her health class. She sat in the front row with North, who she shared this class with, sitting in the desk to her left. Class would start any minute now and North was running late. Her friend's temporary absence didn't faze Tooth one bit, instead she thought about her lost opportunity with Jack that was scared off by the bell.

In all of the television shows and movies involving two people who kissed, they would end up being together and fall in love with each other. Tooth gave out a loveless sigh, fantasizing about being with Jack in a romantic relationship if the bell had never rung.

Her lips had been an inch away from his. One inch of air was what kept them apart. Without a doubt they certainly would have kissed if they had started two seconds earlier.

"Pssst, hey,"

The lovestruck brunette snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the girl sitting behind her. Tooth doesn't really keep up conversations with the people sitting around her other than North, meaning she didn't know this girl that well. She had long blonde hair and hazel colored eyes. Tooth had seen her around school before, but she had never actually caught her name.

"Hey, Toothiana, you listening?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I've seen you a lot but I don't think I know your name that well."

"It's Lilith, but most people just call me Lil."

"Okay, Lil, what can I do for you?"

"Was that guy your boyfriend?"

"What?"

"That guy you were with in the slideshow today. The one with the white hair."

"You mean Jack?"

"Is that his name?"

"Yeah, Jack Frost."

"Is he new?"

"No. He's always been at this school."

"So is he your boyfriend or not? Have you two kissed?"

"Of course not! Jack is just my friend!"

"Uh huh, of course he is. I saw you two over the weekend when I was out shopping. You were buying Jake some clothes."

"It's Jack, not Jake."

"Whatever. You two were even with this little girl. Did you and Jack make her?"

"What is wrong with you?! That was my three year old little sister!"

"Could have fooled me. She looks just like you."

"That doesn't mean that she's my daughter! I'm still in high school!"

Tooth ended the conversation by turning away from Lil. She didn't want to talk to her anymore.

North walked into the classroom and took his seat near Tooth. "Hey, Tooth." he greeted. "What happened back there? All of us were worried when the principal showed up with Pitch and you and Jack left."

"Do we really have to talk about this now?"

"There's no time like the present. And we might as well while your mind still remembers everything."

"Can't I just tell you later? Like, after school? All of us would be together by then."

"But that would be at the end of the day! And I don't think you'll be willing to tell us everything by the time we're all together."

"Ugh, fine."

Tooth took her time to retell her and Jack's story. Class could start any minute, so she told him a brief summary.

"So when Dr. English took us to his office, he was really ticked off at Jack because he thought that he was the one who did it."

"What? Why would he think of something as stupid as that?"

"I was thinking of the same thing before he said that Pitch told him he saw Jack messing with the speaker's slideshow."

"You mean Pitch set Jack up? Just to get him in trouble?"

"Well, I think he was trying to get me in trouble too but Jack lied and took all the blame on purpose-"

"Why on earth would he do that?"

"Well... He didn't want me to get in trouble so he just made it seem like I was the victim and he was the culprit."

"How noble."

"I know, right? So then Jack had to wait outside the office and Dr. English started talking to me. He didn't even let me explain what really happened and when Jack came back in, he said that Pitch was outside."

"What did he do?"

The more Tooth talked the more North grew angry with Pitch. How dare he! Pitch stirred the hornets' nest and Jack was the one getting stung. Knowing that Pitch had done all this just to get not only Jack but Tooth in trouble made his blood boil.

"Pitch was smiling at Jack," Tooth continued. "and Jack wouldn't tell me what he said but it all changed when I was dismissed from the office."

"But what happened to-"

"Shhh! I'm getting there! So when I was waiting outside, I found out that Jack was right because Pitch was standing out there and he looked like he was waiting for me."

"Did he say anything?"

"He just said enough to prove that he really was the one responsible for what happened at the assembly."

Tooth felt herself flare up the more infuriated she became. She never knew recalling something so frustrating would cause her to be this emotional.

North listened to what Tooth said. She didn't mention how Pitch stole her photos, except that he did and he tore them up in front of her. While talking Tooth had placed her hand on her pocket that held her locket to make sure that it was still there. She just wanted to leave everything that had happened during lunch behind.

"Pith can't just get away with this!" North proclaimed. "We have to do something!"

"Jack's already in enough trouble, let's not make it any worse."

"You still never told me what happened to him."

"He has to spend the rest of the year in lunch detention."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, and I hate it because lunch is one of the only times during school where we could all meet up and hang out!"

"Just another happy opportunity ruined by Pitch."

North propped up his chin on his hand while his elbow was resting on his desk. He barely has any classes with Jack, and now he would see him even less during the day. And after everything that Pitch did today, he is still getting away with all of it. As if they didn't despise Pitch enough. He was the most despicable person they knew.

Subsequently when the teacher walked in class started and North's conversation with Tooth ended. They sat through class and passed notes when the teacher wasn't looking until the bell rang to show that school was over for the day. Once they were dismissed, North met up with Tooth in the hallway so that they could continue their talk together.

Four times they were interrupted. All of them were people they have never met before asking Tooth if she was dating "that guy with the white hair". By now, Tooth had grown accustomed to random students walking up to her and giving her nosey remarks about Jack. All of them wanted to know if Jack was her boyfriend or not or how deep their relationship is. When she reached her locker, she decided that they were annoying more than anything.

They had seen Aster in the hallways and North explained everything that Pitch had done and when he finished his story, Aster called Pitch something he shouldn't be saying in school. "I keep tellin you guys, Pitch should have been fired from this school from day one." Aster said while crossing his arms. "If he messes with one of us, he messes with all of us!"

"Technically he messed with two members of our group." Tooth corrected him. "But you have to remember not to sink down to his level."

"It's not my fault he's acting like one of those mean girls from those drama movies. Pitch is such an a-"

"Pitch is a lot older than us and he works here. So I think we should be wearier of him from this point on. Easter is two weeks away and we don't want him to ruin that either."

Tooth packed everything she'd need into her bag and closed her locker. While she had been talking with Aster, North had gone out to the parking lot to pull his car up by the school.

"Have you seen Sandy?" Aster asked her. "I know you guys told me Frosty would be in detention today."

"Yeah, Jack won't be hanging out with us after school because of that."

"Do you know who he's with?"

"No, but I think Sandy should be on his way to meet us in the parking lot right now. If anything, we could always text him."

"Do you know how long Jack will be in detention today?"

"I don't know that either."

Aster and Tooth walked down the hallway together. It bothered Aster knowing that Jack had to be in detention today for something he didn't do. He knew how Jack would go to the elementary school when he would be done with school, and now he was being held back. When he had seen Jack at the elementary school on Friday the kids had already gone inside, so Aster didn't see if they really enjoyed Jack's company or not. Hopefully they wouldn't sulk too much when Jack wouldn't show up.

Another person had walked up to Tooth to ask her about the slideshow and the assembly, and they were brushed off like everyone else. Everyone was so agitating, just walking up to Tooth and interrogating her about her relationship with Jack. Don't these people know how to mind their own business?

When they regrouped with North Sandy still wasn't with them. He must still be in the school. They all waited for him inside North's car and Aster didn't even think to tease Tooth about her crush on Jack today, or to tell her that Jack had a crush on her. Despite everything that had happened to Tooth and Jack neither of them deserved it.

* * *

**A/N: as promised, here are some responses :3**

**Darkblade 2.0: i really liked your response and how you connected the last chapter with your day was cool :3 thanks for liking the chapter. I know that most of the rise of the guardians enthusiasm had died down, and its good to know i still have all these nice people reviewing about how much they love this fic. by the time this fic ends i dont even know if there will be as much fans out there.  
**

**RJguzman318: ah yes, instead of being saved by the bell they were blocked by it X3  
**

**Chiyoku: gurl, im being so evil with these characters right now you wouldnt believe it**

**Blackirean Boltien: (cool username) if i did tell you whether or not they'd kiss later would be spoilers ;) but keep reading and you'll find out. thanks for telling me im a great author. you wouldn't believe how many nights i would stay up questioning if i was good at writing or not. sometimes i would think that im good, until i remember how my friends write and i just asdfghjkl**

**and i was just laughing at my computer at seeing everyone's frustration with the bell ahaha**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: oh so you guys like this fic?  
**

**it'd be a shame if i  
**

**never updated again ;)**

**haha just kidding because we all know what its like to love a fanfic so much only to find out it hasnt updated in over a year (talk about rage quit) but what else is frustrating is that as soon as you get caught up in a fic it just stops at a cliffhanger and it takes almost a year for you to find out what happens .A.  
**

Chapter Thirty Two

"Bye Sandy. See you tomorrow." Jack said as he waved goodbye to Sandy. Sandy waved back and Jack watched him disappear into the crowd. He sighed to himself.

Sandy had come to Jack's locker to make sure he was okay and Jack had explained everything to him. A few people interrupted them but Sandy took out a notepad and wrote: "We're talking, don't be rude and interrupt :(" on it which kept people away, for a while.

Jack stood alone by his locker. Now that Sandy was gone, he was sure that all of his friends had left the building already. He bet they were all hanging out with each other while he would be sitting in dull detention. In the past he had escaped detention multiple times but after today, he was sure the room he would be in would be on total lockdown so he couldn't even leave to use the bathroom. Stupid Pitch. This was entirely his fault.

Jack aimlessly walked through the hallway. He didn't even know what room he was reporting to. No one had told him who he would be serving his detention with, but the worst case scenario would be with Pitch. That would be a nightmare.

Not knowing what he should do, Jack just decided to walk to the office and ask them where he was supposed to go. On his way to the office he entered the hallway that Mr. Ombric's room was in. Before he could walk past the door, his homeroom teacher stopped him.

"Jack," Mr. Ombric spoke. "Where are you going?"

"Detention, again."

"I know, but weren't you informed?"

"Informed about what?"

"I spoke with the people at the office. You'll be spending your detentions with me."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, now come inside. We have much to discuss."

"Alright."

Knowing that he would be spending his extra hours at school with Mr. Ombric made Jack feel better about detention. He may not be Mr. Ombric's favorite student, but Jack knew he was warming up to him. Both of their judgments on each other had changed. Jack had found out Mr. Ombric wasn't just a daft old windbag and Mr. Ombric-well, Jack hadn't found out what his teacher thought of him now. He just knew the old man didn't loathe him.

As long as he didn't return to Mr. Ombric's bad side, Jack was confident his detentions wouldn't be so bad.

Mr. Ombric shut the door once Jack had stepped in. They both sat on top of a desk, facing each other, and Mr. Ombric continued talking. "You must be curious as to why I arranged for you to spend your detentions with me."

"Yeah, why did you do that? Don't you hate me for what I did?"

"I know for a fact that you didn't do anything but take the blame for someone else's actions."

Jack was silent. Then he said, "You know about that? That I was lying?"

"Of course I do. How can you be in two places at once? I was told you were tinkering with the slideshow during lunch but if I recall correctly, you were in the hallway for most of the lunch period."

"Oh, so you probably know what happened at the assembly."

"Naturally, I do. It's become the talk of the school and here I thought today was just going to be another boring old Monday."

"It travels that fast?"

"This is a high school, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is..."

Jack reached back to pull his hood over his head when he remembered he wasn't wearing his hoodie today. He was wearing the blue and white flannel shirt Tooth had bought him. His hoodie was back at the orphanage lying on his bed, discarded. He sighed for the millionth time today.

"What else is bothering you, Jack?"

"It's nothing. So you were saying?"

"As I was saying, it's highly logical that you weren't even near the slideshow during lunch. You were with Tooth and Sandy in the hallways explaining what Gerald had done. To be altering the slideshow at the same time is physically impossible and I know you couldn't have done it before lunch. You were in your classes."

"Wow, you're the first person who works here to catch on to that. Dr. English just went with whatever he thought what happened."

"Which is why I went to go talk with him once I had overheard what had become of you. I knew you had a reason to take the blame, otherwise you would have put up a fair fight. But I won't pry you to tell me what caused you to lie about yourself like that. Aside from that, mind telling me what else is troubling you?"

"I don't know, can I?"

"I wouldn't mind."

"I don't think you'd be interested. It's kind of just your average teen romance trouble and I don't think you remember what that's like, no offense."

"Well then, I'll let you know that I have an idea of what is on your mind. It deals with Toothiana, doesn't it? Have you developed a liking for her?"

"...Yes, but you can't tell anyone."

"Don't worry; your secret is safe with me."

"By the way, why are you suddenly liking me? I never found out why."

"I talk with your other friends from time to time, just to check up on how you're doing with them."

"And how long have you been doing that?"

"Since Friday. I've received some positive feedback about you through emails. But back to the subject, you've grown a little bit on me."

"You know Mr. Ombric, you're not that bad. For an English teacher."

"Advanced English Teacher."

Jack smiled at his teacher who did the same under his old aged face. Out of all of the scenarios Jack expected to happen during detention, he never thought he'd be bonding with an old man with a beard that made him look like a wizard. "So anyway," Jack said. "you said something about me and Tooth?"

"Tooth and I."

"What are you? The grammar police?"

Mr. Ombric let out a soft chuckle before continuing. "From what I have seen, I bet you two are just friends."

"Yeah…"

"And I infer that you want to be something more, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but she'd my friend. I've never really had friends before and…I have no idea what to do about all this."

Here he was, having a small chat about his crush on Tooth his homeroom teacher. Jack didn't know why he saying all this, but it just felt good to talk about it. "And I've never had a crush on anyone else like I do with Tooth."

"Has it ever occurred to you that she may feel the same about you?"

"Heh, that would be the day. I'm stuck in the friend zone with her."

"Have you even tried to move out of the friend zone? For example, you're already close friends with her. Why not ask her to go somewhere with you?"

"Are you crazy? I can talk to Tooth as her friend and I can joke around with her, but-"

"Are you joking around with her? Or flirting with her?"

"I don't know! I just know that if I try to ask her out I'll just look like an idiot and probably embarrass myself."

"How do you know? I thought you were Mr. Cool Guy."

"Well, the last time I tried to ask a girl out, it didn't turn out so well."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"...Okay, but don't say anything when I'm done."

Flashback

He was thirteen years old, in his second year of middle school. She was the same age as he was and in the same grade. Her name was Mia, a short girl who wore her dark brown hair in low pigtails. Jack thought she was cute, and he shared all of his classes with her. Mia was a nice girl. She was sensitive, empathetic, and the school dance was approaching.

It was the last dance of the year, and Jack kind of wanted to go to it. He's never attended the past dances, but he knew he'd look pathetic if he went alone. That's what all the boys said.

Lunch was currently in session and Jack was planning on asking Mia to go to the dance with him. Not as boyfriend and girlfriend, but as friends. He knew that other boys liked Mia for her personality and natural charm, so he decided to make his move right now before anyone else could.

Mia was sitting at the opposite table, drawing like she normally does during every lunch period. Jack checked over himself before walking over to her. No bad breath, there wasn't anything on his face, he had clean clothes, and there weren't any trails of toilet paper sticking to the bottom of his shoes. All he needed was to be smooth. Jack was about to ask a girl out for the first time, and he was smitten with anxiety. If he had a father or an older brother or even friends, he'd ask them for advice.

But this wasn't some made up fantasy world we're he had a normal happy life, this was the real world. He had no father figure, no siblings, and no friends. He was a loner. Taking a deep breath, Jack walked over to the table where Mia was sitting. "H-Hi, Mia."

Great. All he did was greet her and he already ruined it by stuttering.

Mia glanced up from her paper and looked at Jack with her bright brown eyes. "Hello." she said. "Do I know you?"

"Y-yeah. I'm in all of your classes. Does the kid with the white hair who sits behind you in algebra ring any bells? I'm even at your bus stop."

"Oh that's right! It's James, right?"

"A-Actually it's Jack, Jack Frost, but you can call me James if you'd like ahaha."

Jack had no idea how to talk to girls. What was he even thinking? He should have just gone to the dance alone or skipped it entirely. His lack of confidence and what the cooler boys called "swag" was degrading. He should just abort the mission right now. But Jack had already ventured out too far, and if he was going to walk away from Mia without making a bigger fool of himself, he'd had to kick it up a notch. "Sooo um…come her often?"

Genius.

Not.

That was stupid!

"We're at school." Mia calmly replied.

"Oh…yeah, that's right. You're so smart, Mia. You obviously come to school a lot."

He had to act casual, so Jack pulled out a carton of milk from the front pocket of his oversized blue hoodie and opened it.

"Are you okay, Jack? You look kind of pale."

"What? Me? Nah, I'm always this pale. I'm perfectly fine."

The butterflies beating their wings inside his stomach pressured Jack into trying to distract himself. He lifted up his carton of milk to take a sip and smiled in an attempt to keep his cool in front of Mia. But his brain had stopped working and he accidentally ended up dumping the carton of milk on himself.

"Oh my gosh, Jack! Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"No no, I'll be fine. Uh, be right back."

With his hoodie soaked with milk, Jack fled from the scene and left Mia confused about what had just happened. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew one thing. He just blew it. Big time.

End of Flashback

"Do you see now why I can't just walk up to Tooth and just ask her out? I'll just look stupid and- it's not that funny! Sandy already laughed at me while I was talking about my crush on Tooth; Mr. Ombric!"

Mr. Ombric looked as if he was going to fall out of his seat from laughing so hard. He knew he promised Jack he wouldn't comment on his anecdote, but it was too hilarious to pass up!

"Come on Mr. Ombric! I was only thirteen!"

There was a smile tugging at Jack's lips at seeing this old man laugh like a two year old and as much as he didn't want to join in and laugh, he found himself noticing how his first attempt to ask a girl out was more humorous than embarrassing. "Okay fine, maybe pouring milk on myself while trying to ask a girl to a school dance is a _little_ bit entertaining."

"You don' say! In all of my years of working at this school and seeing so much students become involved with each other, I've _never_ heard of someone fail as hard as you! You're lucky that Mia girl was nice enough not to make fun of you."

"Hahaha, yeah…"

Now that he thought about it, Jack realized he had made the right choice choosing someone as nice as Mia to act like an idiot in front of. If he had chosen some other girl to ask to the dance, they would have immediately shot him down before they could learn his name. And even if he poured milk on himself in front of some other girl there's no doubt they'd just take a picture and post it on a social networking website.

Unless it was prom, school dances were always lame. Jack never did go to a school dance and why would he? If he wanted to dance to popular music he would have just gotten a radio and put it in his room and dance there. He's never really danced before, except with Tooth in art room a few days ago. That was great.

"So is this all we're going to do?" he asked. "Just sit here and talk?"

"It would seem like it. Unless you would like to write one sentence on the board over and over."

"No thanks. Like you said, I didn't do anything wrong."

They spent the next hour talking and laughing. But even with his conversations with Mr. Ombric entertaining him, Jack was still restless to get out of detention. Every extra minute he spent at the high school was a minute taken away from playing with Jamie and Pippa during their recess period. The last time he was there he had promised Jamie he wouldn't miss out on them unless he was dead, and now the poor boy was probably thinking Jack had died when he was actually still at school.

"Do you know what I've noticed about you, Jack?" Mr. Ombric asked. "Is that ever since Friday, you've made quite the turn around. And it was then that I knew how right I was by choosing to put you with the others."

"Yeah, thanks. It's really changed my life a lot."

Jack knew that if Mr. Ombric hadn't stuck him with Tooth and her firends, he would still be a hopeless loner who was too antisocial to make any friends.

Detention slowly ticked away and once Mr. Ombric had dismissed him, Jack dashed out of the school without a second thought. School had ended an hour ago so Jack sprinted through the hallways, ran out the door, and found himself almost running through traffic on his way to Burgess Elementary. He was an hour late and recess was over but Jack still approached the lower grade school. Their school day would end in half an hour and until then, Jack would wait outside for Jamie, Pippa, and all of their friends. He knew that as soon as they came out of the building, he'd have to apologize to them for not showing up earlier. Otherwise, they would just get on the bus and go home without seeing him at all.

Jack took a seat on one of the benches outside the school. He was out of breath from running so hard to get here, and now he was finally resting. Being out so late on Sunday made him fatigued with sleep, and that crave for slumber eventually caught up to him. Jack didn't even stop his eyes from drooping shut. The kids wouldn't come out for another hour, why not take a quick nap to pass the time?

Sitting upright on the bench and tired from the last few days, Jack fell asleep.

/

"Is that Jack over there?"

"It looks like him."

"What's he doing over there?"

"Who cares? He skipped us today and I wanna know why!"

A bundle of familiar young faces bounded over to their sleeping snowy haired friend.

"Is he resting?" Monty asked. Cupcake peered closer at Jack. "Yup," she responded. "I think he's taking a nap."

The other kids quietly crowded around Jack and whispered to each other, as to not wake him up.

"Why is he napping?"

"His skin is dark under his eyes. Maybe he hasn't been sleeping well?"

"He's just tired."

"What if this isn't our Jack?"

"Don't be stupid! He's just napping!"

"But he's not wearing his hoodie!"

"So?"

"What if this is his evil twin?"

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"But that doesn't meant it could be true!"

The sound of high pitched voices that have yet to mature woke Jack up. He cracked one eye open to see Jamie and Pippa's friends bickering amongst themselves, not even noticed he had woken up. "What are you guys fighting about?" he asked. He watched as the children halted their pointless argument and turn to him.

"Jack!"

"Why didn't you come today?"

"Where were you?"

"Easy there kids," Jack told him with his hands up in defense. "One question at a time. I can't answer all of you when you're all talking at once."

He studied each child standing before him. There was Sascha, William, and Peter standing in the back and Monty stood in the front with Clyde. Cupcake was positioned next to Jack, but he noticed something odd about the small group of kids. Jamie wasn't there, and neither was Pippa.

"Wait, what happened to Jamie and Pippa?" he asked them. "Why aren't they here today?"

Silence swept over the kids and they all exchanged glances with each other. "We don't know." William replied. They all paused for a minute before Clyde said, "I think something happened with Pippa's family."

Sascha nodded in agreement. "Pippa's at her home, I think."

"What about Jamie?"

"I don't know where he is. Maybe he's sick?"

"He could be." Peter added.

Jack assumed that Jamie and Pippa hadn't told their friends about the complicated relationship between their parents. He didn't blame them either. Jamie's mom was once married to Pippa's father but the relationship between the two children was too complex for them to explain on their own. But to put it simple, Jack just saw them as step siblings. He wasn't sure if that term for them was correct, but he just stuck with that as to not go into depth about the whole thing. It would be emotionally exhausting.

Peter glanced behind them and saw that the buses they were supposed to ride home had started their engines. "Oh my gosh you guys! We have to go right now or else the buses will leave without us!"

The other kids realized their situation and quickly bid farewell to Jack before running off to their separate buses home.

Jack watched them trampled onto their buses and stood in the same spot as they drove past him. He saw them wave to him from their windows and he waved back until the last bus finally passed, leaving him alone once again. When he saw that no other cars were coming Jack transitioned to the sidewalk by the street. He had his hands in his pockets and walked the lonely road back to the orphanage, wondering what could have prevented Jamie and Pippa from coming to school today.

* * *

**A/N: woah long chapter**

**nopeitsgone: aaahhh thank you so much asdfghjkl. and the whole thing about the bell ruining the moment was meant to be this whole ironic thing because instead of being "saved by the bell" they were stopped by the bell ahaha  
**

**Bolten Star: don't worry i won't let you cry ;A; ill do my best to update on the 16th just for you uvu**

**creatorX33:ugh tell me about it. in fact, the whole thing with the slideshow was based off of something that happened to me in 6th grade.  
it was the end of the year and my school was showing a slideshow of a bunch of different pictures and there was this one slide of me smiling and hanging out with my best friend (who is a boy) and everyone was all like, "are you two dating?" and when we say no they say we should date just because we're childhood best friends who are the opposite gender and its so annoying :T**

**abysmal2218: fyeah inspiration .A. and thanks. by the way, may i ask who sylvia plath is? she sounds interesting.**

**Camelot Emrys: as soon as you mentioned easter i started laughing to myself because only i know what will happen right now ****XD**

**Darkblade 2.0: yeah we all know pitch is the biggest donkey ever XD and im glad to hear that youll still be a RotG fan once this fic is over. im sure youre not the only one (such as me :D). ive written other fics before but the only good ones are RotG so those will probably be the only fics i write people will read. im also glad that despite everything that has happened to this fandom, it wont end up dying out like other fandoms i enjoy (its a sad thing to see) because this is the second fandom to change my life and i want to contribute to it by writing more fics for other fans.  
and i wish i could hang a RotG poster in my room, except my brothers and parents would just tease me about it. they already made fun of me for buying the Guardians of Childhood books just because of their titles and i cant love Rise of the Guardians around my family without them making me feel embarrassed for liking a kids movie so much when my love for the movie goes really really deep into my whole character and all that ive been through in life. i connected with jack so much about all the lonliness in life and i just love all the characters and concepts in general.  
I alo read that thing Janazza said too. and remembering it made me realize how different my plots are from the ones that my friends make. mine can have all these twists and turns that only i can think of or they can be about something no one has ever done yet (hint hint for my next multi chapter fic :3)  
And im not saying your really nice and inspirational review made me cry, but it totally did ;A; ive had other reviews that have made me cry (both sad and happy tears) but yours is the first one on this fic to make me step back from my computer and think so thank you *hugs*  
**

**wtf i sure can ramble that has got to be the longest response ive ever posted ;A;  
**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: special shoutout to Bolten Star! its their birthday and this update today is their birthday present (like i promised ^u^)  
**

Chapter Thirty Three

Jack kicked a stray can into the water drain. He had no idea what to do now. There was still light in the day but all of his friends were doing something else without him. Due to the fact he didn't own a cell phone or a computer, he didn't have any way to contact them. The only thing he was doing was walking back to the orphanage, wishing that he would at least have some company.

He felt…clingy.

Everyone he knows has their own lives to live outside of him, but there were times when he wished they didn't so that they wouldn't leave him one day. From doing homework, going to the movies, throwing a party; they chose what to do in their life. And Jack can't always be involved, because he needs his time to himself too.

You'd think that after spending his whole childhood alone would give him enough time to himself, but it just left an empty space in his heart where happy family moments were supposed to be. There were no friends around when he was a kid, and he had no pets either.

The sun was almost set by the time Jack reached the orphanage. He took his time walking home, having no motivation to hurry. As soon as he walked through the front door, he waited for Mr. Moon to pop out of nowhere and greet him.

"Good afternoon, Jack."

There he is. Jack had grown used to Mr. Moon by now, and he just walked right past the old man. "I'm going up to my room." he said, evading his caretaker. Jack went upstairs and climbed the ladder to the attic and placed a few of the old boxes on top of the latch. That was his way of "locking the door" since he didn't actually have a lock to use.

In the corner of the room was the pile of old junk Jack had made earlier. Since he had nothing better to do, Jack just decided to clear it away. Maybe he would find something else within the pile that was worth keeping. He did find the locket he gave to Tooth in there, and if he took his time to sift through everything he could find something to occupy himself with when he was alone. Like right now.

He didn't know how long it actually took him to clear everything away, Jack estimated about an hour and a half, but he had salvaged a small portion of the pile of junk that he would keep out. All of it was old fashioned, like the lantern he found from the 90's that could still work as long as he replaced the batteries. He would use it when leaving his room in the middle of the night or when he would be sneaking out onto the roof.

What he also dug up was an old painting of a house back when the English colonies were still around. Jack had hung it up on the wall, providing the only form of decoration. He wanted his room to look more like a living area and less like the dusty old attic of a worn down orphanage, just in case he had any meaningful guests over.

The old lantern and the painting were the only two objects from the mess he had kept out. Everything else was shoved back into the boxes; except for an old pocket watch he found. It didn't work, but it looked nice and Jack stored it in the drawer of his nightstand. That was where he kept small that he found around town or from his childhood. After clearing away everything, he promptly placed the two pairs of ice skates he had on top of the boxes.

A knock emanating from the "door" of the attic broke through Jack's independent silence. He had a feeling he knew who was coming up. "What is it Mr. Moon?"

Through the door, Mr. Moon said, "I was just coming up to tell you that dinner is ready and that you can come down any time you want."

Jack listened to the footsteps fade away before removing the box barricades. He flipped the latch open and extended his ladder down before walking down the hallway. When he reached the kitchen all of the other children were there, not noticing him, and Jack took an empty seat at the end of the large table. No one sat next to him, because they didn't know they he was there. They all just sat with their friends or siblings.

Despite being a ghost to them, Jack still listened to the kids talk about their day at the table as if it were a normal family dinner. Nobody spoke to him, but it was still nice to pretend he belonged with the children that weren't even in his age group.

After dinner Jack took a quick shower and went back to his room. A few stars were twinkling in the night sky when he looked out the window, and he could even see the moon shining down on him. The moon beams seeped through the glass and lit up the attic in a dim silver glow, until Jack closed the curtains over it. Going to bed was the only thing he could do now, because he didn't feel like going stargazing tonight. He just felt…hollow.

He could only hope that he would dream again tonight, because maybe that was what he was missing. Dreams.

With that in mind, Jack crawled into his bed and fell asleep.

/

When Jack woke up the next he ignored the fact that he had yet another dreamless night and prepared for school. Throughout the rest of the week he felt the same; hollow. He didn't know exactly why, though. His friends were with him at school and he would have fun spending his detentions with Mr. Ombric.

Within Tuesday and Wednesday the amount of times people who would ridicule Jack and Tooth about whether or not they were dating had died down. It didn't stop, but it was diminished to only a few interruptions daily. Jack had grown used to the people asking him the same questions, but the most annoying one was when people would walk up to him and say, "You look familiar…" to him. He didn't know how everyone forgot his face; he thought he stood out in the crowd. If his snow white hair wasn't enough of an eye catcher, then his unusually sun bleached skin was. His name wasn't even that hard to remember.

But what kept Jack occupied the most during the week would be when he would go to the elementary school. Jamie and Pippa _still _weren't at school when he would visit. They were gone for three days and none of their friends knew why, so neither did Jack. He was starting to grow concerned for them. Technically, he was an older brother to them. But nobody was supposed to know that.

Jamie and Pippa's absences weren't the only subjects that Jack busied himself with. He couldn't forget what had happened on Monday. Ever since he almost kissed Tooth on purpose he had taken extra precautions around her. And Jack's conversations with Mr. Ombric had left him with his own self-doubts about asking Tooth out on a date.

It was those small talks that Jack had with Mr. Ombric that lead him to actually looking forward to detention. After all, Jack and the old man could have a couple of laughs together once in a while.

Another thing that Jack had noticed was how Tooth would always be pulling Sandy to the side and talking to him privately. He didn't mean to eavesdrop on them; he just overheard a few words that Tooth had said. From what he had heard, they were talking about some sort of special present for someone. Jack didn't know who they were talking about or what they were giving to them, but he didn't want to ask in fear of being scolded by them for being nosy. So he just kept his little secret to himself. Whoever they were giving a present to must mean a lot to them if Tooth keeps talking to Sandy about it.

It wasn't until Thursday rolled around did Jack finally see Jamie and Pippa at school again, but Pippa was different.

"Hey guys! Long time no see." he greeted them after crawling through the fence. When Jack saw how upset Pippa looked, he approached her. "What's wrong, Pippa?"

Tears were flooding out of her eyes as she did her best to answer. "I-I- my daddy..."

She couldn't even finish her sentence before she began to sob again. Pippa completely broke down and found herself crying her broken heart out on the playground. "N-No, Pippa! Don't cry!" Jack said as he tried to comfort her. All he did was ask her what was wrong, and in an instant she had turned into a complete wreck.

Everyone else had noticed how Pippa had begun to cry again and they rushed over to her side. "Okay, what's is going on?" Jack asked. He was confused as to why Pippa had just burst into tears at his simple question earlier and he also wanted to let everyone know that he didn't mean to make Pippa cry in the first place.

Jamie tried to comfort Pippa and Peter walked up to Jack to tell him what had happened. "Pippa's dad died on Sunday." he whispered. "She's really really sensitive about it and Jamie went to the funeral with her."

"What?" Jack retorted. "What do you mean Pippa's father is dead?!"

His voice was barely above a whisper, as to not remind Pippa that one of her parents had passed away. Jack glanced at who was Pippa still whaling and then he turned to Jamie. "Jamie, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh…sure, Jack. Hey Sascha, can you take Pippa for a minute? I have to talk to Jack about something."

Sascha had switched roles with Jamie and she was now trying to calm down her upset friend while Jamie moved over to where Jack was. "What's up, Jack?"

"Jamie listen, Peter said that Pippa's dad…passed away on Sunday. What did he mean by that?"

The urgency in Jack's tone was a sign that this was important to him. Jamie didn't know exactly why Jack was so desperate to know about Mr. Overland, but he told him the truth anyway. "Don't bring this up to Pippa, but on Sunday Mr. Overland got into a really bad car accident."

"So Pippa is obviously distraught about it, but what about you? How are you taking this?"

"Well honestly, I didn't really know Mr. Overland that well and I didn't talk to him that much whenever I went to Pippa's house because he would be at work. I know that he used to be married to Mom, but she never liked to talk about it."

"Yeah, I don't think she would…"

"What?"

"Nothing. So can you tell me the full story about the past few days?"

"Oh uh, okay. So on Monday Pippa stayed home from school while some stuff happened so that her dad could have a funeral right away. I was sick that day, so I don't really know what else happened but on Tuesday Mom got a letter in the mail telling her what happened and on Wednesday Pippa and I went to the funeral and after that we just stayed home."

"Do you remember where the funeral was?"

"It was at the creepy cemetery by the church. I was there during the day, so it wasn't that scary. Why?"

"N-No reason."

Jack clenched his fists and kept them in his pockets. His birth father had just died four days ago and he was only finding out about it now. He even missed the funeral! Nobody even bothered to tell him, but he didn't even remember what his father sounded like! He should be able to brush this whole thing off!

"And while Pippa and I were staying home, Mom let me go to Pippa's house so that I could try cheering her up and during that Mom talked to Mrs. Overland. I don't know what they were saying, but-"

Jamie was talking but Jack couldn't hear him. He was having his own crisis that he was trying to hide away so that he wouldn't let it out in front of a bunch of third graders.

What hurt the most was that Jack knew for a fact that his mother _knew_ he hadn't been adopted yet. She had driven by the orphanage about three weeks ago and that was when Jack was climbing a tree in the front yard. His mom stopped at a red light, and when she looked at the orphanage she even _saw _him hanging upside down from that tree. Jack saw her too, and their eyes locked until someone honked their horn to show that the light had turned green. His mom didn't say anything, she just drove away. Jack stayed in that tree for a couple of minutes, taking in how different his mom looked from when he last saw her, and then he ran inside.

"Jack? Jack, are you okay? Are you shaking? Jack!"

Jamie's raised voice snapped Jack out of his trance. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I have to go, but tell Pippa that I'm sorry."

"But you just got here! I bet playing with Pippa would make her feel better."

"Listen, I have to go right now."

"Where?"

"Just...I have to go home, right now. I just remembered that my mom needed to talk to me after school."

"Oh, okay. See you later then, Jack."

Jamie watched Jack run back through the hole in the fence and returned to his friends. He couldn't help but notice that Jack was acting…different.

/

Jack didn't care where he was running off to, but he just had to get somewhere secluded and away from everyone. He needed to be isolated.

After running for what seemed like a lifetime, Jack found himself by the frozen lake near the park. He could feel tears swelling up in his eyes, but he quickly brushed them away. His father was a jerk that left when he was still a toddler, and Jack refused to cry about his death. He shouldn't even be feeling like this, he shouldn't be feeling like Pippa.

Jack wasn't like Pippa. He didn't spend his childhood growing up with a loving father figure in his life. He didn't even have a family around for most of his life. It was just his mom for a few years before she left him too. Judging by how perky and happy Pippa was when Jack would visit, he assumed she had a happy life back home. She had two wonderful parents and a family wasn't broken.

More tears were clouding his vision, and Jack wiped them away before they could fall. He needed to distract himself, so he ran even more. Jack still had no clue where he was going except that he was just sprinting through the forest. He didn't even see the tree root on the ground and when he tripped over it, he tumbled onto the ground.

For a moment he just laid there, with his back on the ground as he stared up at the trees above him. He wasn't hurt, he just didn't have enough motivation to get up. Instead, Jack watched the bare branches of the towering trees sway in the wind, and it was then did he finally let his tears accumulate until they slid down his face.

Jack didn't whimper, scream, or sob. All he did was stay on the ground and ignore the drops of bitterness drip from his eyes. Now he understood why he felt so hollow this week. His father died and he didn't even know. While he was out having fun on Sunday, people like his original father and Pippa weren't so lucky. Poor girl, she's not even ten years old yet.

It was chilly outside but Jack didn't feel a thing. The hoodie his mother gave him was what he chose to wear today, along with his flannel shirt from Tooth underneath. Two layers of warmth. One layer was friendship, and the other was love that faded away.

After a few minutes the tears ceased to flow from his tired eyes. That's what he was. Tired.

He was tired of everything.

Tired of his parents.

The death of his father was what made him feel this way. At least his mother was still alive, with a loving husband and a precious son who she cared for. She was living in the same town but Jack didn't know where. His only chances of finding out where she was now would be to follow Jamie home, and he didn't want to do that. Instead, he just stood up.

Next Saturday would be his birthday. He would become a legal adult and instead of his family being there to celebrate, he would have his friends. Not his friends from the elementary school, but Tooth, Sandy, North, and Aster. His birthday was the day before Easter, so they'd be spending time together anyway in preparation for the egg hunt.

Jack spotting a discarded branch near him and he snatched it from the frozen ground. It was a tall branch approximately half a foot taller than him but it was thin enough for him to wrap his hand around it. The top of it was even curved, and Jack immediately thought of his staff that he would have in his dreams. He may not be the embodiment of winter or an invisible spirit, but that didn't stop him from playing around with the branch.

The forest kept Jack occupied and he even started to laugh again while playing by himself. If anyone saw him right now, they would tell him to "act his age and stop acting like a child" but he was alone, so there wasn't anyone to stop him from playing pretend. He waved the branch around, tapped the ground with it, climbed the trees, tried to walk on the ice with his normal shoes, slipped on the ice, and he didn't even realized the sun was already setting. He was too busy poking any snow that hadn't melted away with the tree branch.

This was how he cheered himself up; acting like a kid. Anyone could become childish, whether they were alone or surrounded by an army of friends.

When the sunlight grew dim Jack put the tree branch down and rested against a large tree trunk. It wasn't dark enough for any stars to come out, but it was still relaxing to sit down and rest once in a while. He remembered the times he spent with Baby Tooth and Tooth last week. Despite being a second away from being killed by a truck, he had fun with them. If only they were out with him now. If only any of his friends were with him now.

But they weren't with him, and neither were his parents. That meant he didn't have anyone to enforce a dumb curfew on him. Jack never followed the curfew at the orphanage anyway. Whenever he would stay out too late, he would just climb in through his window like he did last time when North dropped him off.

That was when he had an idea. And despite receiving devastating news today, Jack smiled.

/

Once again, Jack took his time to walk back to the orphanage. There were many times where he became distracted, like when he decided to chase a stray rabbit through the park but after a few hours, he was back at the orphanage.

It was almost 10pm by the time he reached the attic, and everyone else had gone to bed. Jack wasn't going to bed anytime soon. In fact, he wasn't the least bit tired.

Jack searched his room for that old lantern he found earlier and picked it up when he did. He left the attic and went to the kitchen to look for some new batteries to cram into it so that it would light up. When he found a drawer full of extra batteries, he spent the next ten minutes testing which types of batteries he was supposed to use through trial and error. Luckily, he eventually found the right batteries and soon the old lantern was functioning as if it were brand new.

He turned on the lantern and marveled at how bright it was. Perfect.

Jack took the lantern with him and crept over to the backdoor of the orphanage. He made sure to make no sounds when opening it, and stepped back outside. His lantern provided enough light for him to see in the night and if he remembered correctly, Tooth's house is somewhere close to the orphanage.

* * *

**A/N: ive never given anyone an update as their birthday present on purpose and i dont know if it was a good present or not ;A;  
**

**Chihuahua rocks: hey thanks! im glad to hear what you said about the plot, because there are times when im thinking about this fic and im just like "oh gosh wtf was i even thinking with this" **

**Poemwriter98: i had the most fun writing baby tooth. especially when she was talking to jack :D  
**

**RJguzman318: haha dont worry, ever since i saw rise of the guardians ive been taking care of my teeth a lot more  
**

**Blackirean Boltien: yeah yeah just wait for it and youll find out**

**OtakuAme: oh if you sense drama now, wait for a few more chapters *evil laugh***

**Mystichawk: ooohh that song sounds perfect for me. thanks. i listened to it all day and got all emotional over it. i used to listen to Dead Hearts by Stars but then i would just tear up at the end because it only reminded me of my friends from middle school. i really love Here's to Never Growing Up because 1) i listened to songs like that all day when i was in preschool, so there was all this nostalgia. 2) it reminds me of my life when i was still young. before i got all depressed and before i didnt have to worry about things like how my sexuality is different from my family's or all of my friends that i have grown to love like family ;A;  
and my family doesnt have the right to make fun of me in the first place because by being 14, im the youngest child and everyone makes fun of me for liking stuff meant for kids but they dont say anything about my 17 year old brother watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or about my 47 year old dad watching Regular Show on Cartoon Network. Just like my friends, im going to grow up to become a child in the body of an adult ahaha  
**

**Darkblade 2.0: no no dont be sorry! I love your reviews :3 and the whole thing with jack was so much fun to write because he was so nervous. and the thing up my sleeve is probably something you won't ever imagine ;)  
**

**akizaki14: oh i know about project guardian! ive seen some cool fanart for it on fyeahriseoftheguardians but ill probably never have any time to read it XD**

**its times like these where i just cant stop talking so ill just stop now before i make this longer than last chapter heheh ;u;**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:so my mom took me to the hospital to get a check up on what im allergic to and thE GUY TOOK FOUR VIALS OF MY BLOOD ASJFHGEWVTJHYJ. he kept the needle in my arm for like, five minutes and i am drastically afraid of needles and any kind of injection so i was crying like a baby the entire time. meanwhile my mom was just standing there laughing. mom, this is not a time to be laughing at your child you b*tch you know i have a phobia of needles.  
**

**and my arms are really scrawny so i dont even have any padding to help with the pain ;n;**

Chapter Thirty Four

His lantern illuminated the road, showing Jack what path to take. He had a rough idea about where Tooth lived and it took maybe twenty minutes total to reach her house. At least, Jack assumed twenty minutes had passed. The sky had grown immensely darker since he left the orphanage and he couldn't see any houses with their lights on.

Tooth's house was ginormous compared to the other small houses in the neighborhood making it's silhouette stand out in the dark. Jack couldn't miss it even if he had a blindfold on.

There were two windows that had lights shining through them. All of the other windows were dark, they must belong to all the rooms not in use or to Tooth's little sisters. She and her mother must still be awake.

Jack turned off his lantern, not wanting to look like a stalker or a trespasser. The neighborhood watch would give him major trouble if he was spotted outside this late at night sneaking around this humongous house. It was so glamorous and well kept; they might mistake him for a crook.

Out of the two windows with their lights on, Jack craned his neck and scaled around the two story house to decipher which room Tooth was in. When he reached the right side of the house with an old oak tree reaching out to it, Jack watched what he assumed was the second floor window. A figure passed by the glass, and Jack immediately recognized it as Tooth's.

The other light in the second window shut off and gave Jack a hint that Tooth's parents were most likely in bed. Now he knew that Tooth was the only one still up.

He needed a plan to contact her. Throwing something at her window was out of the question; Jack still remembered when he broke that window in the nurse's office last Friday. He still wasn't caught for that.

A cool breeze blew past him and pointed Jack to the oak tree by Tooth's house. It reached the second floor, meaning that Jack would have to do even more climbing today.

One of the branches at the top of the tree extended to Tooth's window. It was thick and Jack thought that it could hold his weight, just as long as he was careful. He wasn't feeling like falling out of another tree this month, especially not below Tooth's window.

Jack snuck over to the shrubs by the oak tree and placed his lantern behind them. He would need that again in a few more minutes. His hand grabbed a low branch adjacent to the tree's trunk and Jack used it to pull himself up. From there he clambered up the tree like a monkey, cautious not to make any noise.

He used the faint glimmer from Tooth's window to see and he found himself transitioning to the top of the tree in a matter of minutes. The branch that was a bridge to Tooth's window was in his sight and he found out that he was _way _higher than he felt. There weren't any branches below him to break his fall, but Jack didn't even want to think of falling right now. If he so much slipped he would without a doubt break his neck on the landing and then Tooth might hear him and look out her window.

Any minute now Tooth could turn off her lights and go to bed, which motivated Jack to crawl along the branch to her window quickly. He was in the middle of the branch when he could finally see Tooth properly through her window. She was sitting at her desk combing her hair, and Jack moved his arm out to signal her.

/

Tooth jumped when she heard a sudden tapping at her window. Her state of surprise made her drop her comb and spin around to see what was there. It took her brain a second for her to calculate what she was seeing, and she ran across her room to get a closer look. "Jack?! What are you doing here?"

Jack tilted his head and motioned her to open her window so that he could hear. Tooth obliged, and repeated her question. "Jack, what are you doing here? How did you get here? Do you even know what time it is? It's like, half an hour past ten! Jack? Are you even listening?"

Everything that Tooth said to him went into one ear and out the other. Not that he could see Tooth directly; he saw that she had her hair down with all of her makeup washed off. She didn't have on her usual eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, or foundation. And the way her hair fell to her shoulders, Jack could see how it framed her face like a heart. She was wearing a white nightgown and the only bright colors on her were the colored streaks in her hair.

He was frozen in a squatting position on the tree branch. This was his first time seeing Tooth like this, and she was beautiful. She didn't even need to wear copious amounts of makeup every day.

"Jack, can you hear me?"

Tooth snapped her fingers in Jack's face and he finally came back to his senses. "Jack?"

"What? Oh, hey Tooth. Sorry, it's just that, well, I've never seen you without makeup and your hair is down so…"

"I was about to go to bed."

"Yeah, I can see that. I just came here to talk to you about something, because I can't text or call you. But I can go if you want. I'll just…climb down this tree and leave."

"No no! You don't _have _to go, and you came all this way after all."

Tooth put her elbows on her window sill and Jack moved in closer on the branch. He was in full view now, and Tooth noticed that he looked paler than usual…

"So Jack, what did you come here to talk about? It's a school night after all, and we have to wake up early tomorrow."

"I know. It's just that…some stuff came up. I don't really know what to do about it, though."

"What's wrong?"

"Can I come in and tell you? I'm _really _high up right now."

"Oh! Yeah, it's fine. I can just go downstairs and open the-"

"Actually, I'll just come in right now. You might want to take a few steps back."

"What?"

Jack grabbed the top ledge of Tooth's window and swung himself forward. He put his legs in first, and then pulled the rest of his body in. Tooth stood to the side and watched him, wondering if this was really happening and if this was actually just a dream. Jack came out this late at night, in the cold, just to talk to her. He was even at her window like a knight in shining armor rescuing the princess locked in the tower.

"Just be really quiet," Tooth told him. "I can't let anyone know I have a boy in my room this late."

"Don't worry, they won't even know I'm here."

They both took a seat on Tooth's bed and began to talk. "So like I was saying," Jack continued. "I learned some really surprising things today…"

"What was it?"

"Well, I don't think you'd understand my situation unless I told you the whole story behind it. You're a good listener, right? Because I know that if I did this with Sandy he'd probably fall asleep. In fact, he's probably sleeping right now and he's murder me if I woke him up this late."

They both smiled with amusement, knowing that it was true. Sandy didn't like to be woken up in the middle of the night, and he's get cranky if he didn't get to sleep for a long period of time.

"And I don't think Aster and North would be the right people to go to for this kind of stuff."

"Oh."

Tooth suddenly felt like Jack came here by default. But Jack _did_ came to her house on foot in the middle of the night. He didn't wait for school to see her, he came to her now. "So what is it anyway? You said you'd tell me and then you changed the subject."

"It's my family."

Jack gave Tooth a solemn look as she grew silent. He was fully aware that she knew that anything related to his past or his family was a touchy subject, and tonight he'd be using them to lecture.

"Is everything okay?" Tooth asked. Of course it wasn't. The last time she brought up Jack's family he almost cried and then he ran out of the room. But if he was here now, wanting to talk to her about his own family, he must trust her enough to willingly do it face to face.

Jack took a deep breathe, and put everything to the side. He had to get this off his chest, and Tooth was the right person for him to do it with. "So you know how I'm an orphan?"

That was a dumb starter question.

Of course Tooth knew he was an orphan! She's been to the orphanage; she knows he hasn't been adopted yet.

"It didn't start out like that. I wasn't one of the kids at the orphanage whose parents died when they were young and I wasn't left on some doorstep as a baby. You see, when I was really little-"

Tooth sat and listened to Jack's story. She didn't interrupt or take her eyes off of him; she just analyzed every word he said. She was astonished to find out what Jack's real name used to be, but she felt so sorry for him. He was talking about his dad's fight with his mom and how he left both of them after that. And when he started to talk about his mom leaving, Tooth grabbed his hand and he stopped. "Jack, I'm so sorry that all this happened."

"Well, when I was little they told me not to draw on the walls before so I-"

"But no one should have to go through what you did! You weren't even in preschool yet and no offense, but to think that all of that started because of some doodle on the wall seems kind of…stupid."

"Stupid?"

"Yeah."

Tooth hoped that Jack realized nothing was his fault and that his father just over reacted. She could tell he was feeling guilty, and she didn't want him to blame himself.

"No, what's stupid is that I'm seventeen years old and I have to live in an attic of some dusty old building. What's stupid is that I can only talk to you guys after school if I'm at your houses or if we hang out. Stupid is watching all of your friends make plans for their future and getting reminded that you have_ nothing_ at all and-"

"Jack,"

Her other hand moved to Jack's and he stopped talking again. "What do you mean by having nothing?"

Jack paused. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead he just closed it. He suddenly found himself forgetting how to talk and understanding what he had just said. "I…it's nothing."

"No it's not! You always say something is 'nothing' when it's actually a big deal! You just told me why your parents aren't with you now but last week you were acting as if it wasn't anything at all! And now you're saying that you don't have a future but you don't know that! You're just…acting hopeless!"

"Tooth, I-"

"You can tell me _anything_ Jack. And that goes for the other guys too. We're your friends and you don't have to be afraid to talk to us about anything. You don't have to act cold around us when it comes to things like this."

For a few minutes they just sat there together, in silence. Tooth's hands were still on Jack's and neither of them bothered to move. Then, just when Tooth thought she said something she shouldn't have, Jack began to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Tooth demanded, wanting to know why Jack suddenly switched moods. "I really don't see anything funny in-"

"Now _this _is something stupid. I'm not calling you stupid, but what we're doing. I'm here, secretly in your room, in the middle of a school night, telling you my sob story and now we're being all dramatic about it."

"What?"

"I bet you never expected something like this to happen, ever. This is a rare moment."

Jack was laughing again and Tooth realized how right he was. Despite the importance of what Jack had said earlier, never in a million years did Tooth think something like this would happen to her. And now Jack was just laughing it off as if it were...nothing.

"But this was good for me." he continued. "It opened my eyes and I realized the whole thing about my parents splitting up because of a dumb scribble on the wall _is_ lame. And now it's funny how I let something as stupid as that turn me into some mopey child growing up."

"Exactly! You were too young to know any better and even if you were warned before it's not like you could fully comprehend it."

"And my dad was never the most patient, anyways. Mom always said he had come home from a bad day at work. He was just frustrated."

"And that's his problem! He just took out his frustration on you and your mom when he had no right-"

"But you know what? It's all really ironic because technically I've just been blaming myself all these years for doing things when I couldn't even read yet! If my dad hadn't lost it and if he'd just learned to be patient like a normal guy, he would never have gotten into a fight with my mom. So basically, it's_ his _fault."

Jack didn't want to think of the fact that his mother left him years later, he just wanted to enjoy this moment right now. He ignored how he had no money for college and how all of his friends would leave because he was going to enjoy the ride through high school right now. Besides, Jamie and Pippa and their friends would be still be around by the time he finishes school. He'll still be around for them.

"Oh and, there's this little follow-up story. You know about how my parents split and how my mom left and why I'm an orphan, but now I have to tell you what happened to them later on."

"Are you sure you want to tell me? I mean, you don't have to tell me anymore if you don't want to. You seem pretty happy right now and I don't want you to ruin it for yourself."

"Nah, might as well finish what I started. Just a heads up, this next part might get tricky to follow."

"That's fine."

"Okay, so do you know who Jamie and Pippa are? You guys said you've done holiday stuff for the kids at the elementary school before and you've probably met them."

"Oh yeah I think I know them. Jamie Bennett, right? I see them every year when we do the Christmas Festival and the egg hunt."

"Yeah, Jamie Bennett and Pippa Overland."

"Overland?!"

"Uh huh, that's her last name. You see, my dad didn't give up on marriage when he left. As it turns out, he met someone else and then they had another kid, Pippa. I guess my mom had the same idea too, cause then she met a new guy and had another son, Jamie."

"But wait, how do you know?"

"Because I've seen them around town, with their separate families. I didn't say anything though, I was only ten when it happened."

"But wouldn't Jamie or Pippa have white hair then? Like how you have it."

"They each married someone with brown hair. I remember it from when I saw them walking through town. But I think I got my white hair from my mom, but I guessed she dyed it brown since the last time I saw here she was a brunette. Either that, or I go my white hair from my dad and he dyed his hair. I don't really remember that well."

"Oh."

Tooth has met Jamie's mother before during the holidays. If she recalled correctly, she had brown hair like Jamie. Despite that, there was a high chance that Jamie could have gotten his hair color from his father and Pippa got hers from her mother. Either way, it was extraordinary to learn about their relationship with Jack.

"It's pretty complicated since my dad is half responsible for Pippa and vice versa for my mom and Jamie. I guess that technically makes me their half-brother I guess. I'm not an expert on this whole genetics thing, so I could be like their step-brother or something."

"Do they know about it? About you?"

"About their parents? Yes. Me? No. They have no idea where I came from, but they do know that I exist through all the times I've played with them. For all they know, they think I'm just an average high school student with a normal family and a normal home."

"So when Aster told me about what you do after school last week, you were with Jamie and Pippa?"

"Yeah."

"So you haven't told them about your relationship with them?"

"Not a word."

"Why? I'm sure they'd be happy to know that they have an amazing half-brother."

"You really think I'm amazing?"

"Duh! Jack, you went through all that as a kid who was growing up on his own. And here you are right now, still willing to laugh about it and you probably make Jamie and Pippa happy too by visiting them! You're being involved in their childhood and giving them something good to look back on when they're older."

"Oh, I guess you're right."

"And you've even changed since last Friday! I don't think you wanted to be with us t first, and look at you now! You're socializing with us instead of completely shutting yourself away and rolling around in a field of sadness. Jack, do you know how strong and amazing that makes you? Just look at everything that you've overcome all by yourself!"

Jack just stared at Tooth, speechless about how he should respond. Everything that Tooth had said to him was inspirational and he was suddenly feeling proud of himself.

The mood in Tooth's room changed. It started out as depressing when Jack told his story, became light-hearted when he laughed about it, and now a feeling of gratitude and warmth swept over them.

"Thanks, Tooth, for everything."

Tooth began to blush and flinched when Jack pulled her into a hug. He was smiling again, recognizing Tooth as the only person in the universe who was able to make him feel this way. She was that special one of a kind girl that you'll only meet once in a lifetime.

"But there's still more that I have to tell you." Jack said, letting Tooth go. "It's really what sealed the deal in making me come over."

"What is it?"

"You remember on Sunday, when we and Baby Tooth all had a blast together?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

"Well, not everyone had such a great time that day."

Jack stood up from Tooth's bed and walked over to the window. He gazed out of it and had his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. His back was facing Tooth as he continued to talk.

"When I went to see Jamie and Pippa today, I learned something new about my dad. He died that day, in a car accident, and Pippa lost her father."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Pippa's only in third grade. She's probably eight or nine years old and she's already lost a parent."

Jack took a deep breathe, and turned back to Tooth. "And when I first learned what happened to my dad, I was sad at first and I didn't know what to do about it. I barely even knew my dad! I'm not sure if I even remember what his voice sounded like and I don't have any pictures of him or anything."

"It's natural that you'd be upset by this, Jack. Even if he left when you were young, he's still your father."

"But he was more of a father to Pippa than he ever was to me. Even better if she was always so perky and happy whenever I would see her. So I guess both of us lost our father at an early age."

Tooth stood up and reached out to Jack with her hand. "Jack, I-"

"She was sobbing when I last saw her. She had broken down in seconds but I got over my dad's death in like, a day. I mourned him for a couple hours, so would that make me a horrible person? Only mourning my father for a couple hours?"

"I don't get it, what do you mean by that?"

"I got over my dad's death so quickly compared to Pippa. I kind of just…accepted it. I don't know if its because I'm used to getting bad news all the time or because that's how life is. I feel so sorry for Pippa. She actually grew up with him and he helped raise her so they got to develop a father-daughter relationship."

"And that's why it was so hard for her. You could barely understand anything when your dad left."

"Jamie wasn't as upset as her either. He knows that her dad and his mom used to be married, and he's met him too and he was even comforting Pippa when she was crying."

"How sweet."

"Hey, can I ask you something?'

"Again?"

"Yes."

"Sure."

Jack nervously stared at the rug on Tooth's floor. He fumbled with the draw strings on his hoodie, not wanting to look directly at Tooth.

"So when I was talking to Jamie today, he said that Pippa's dad-er, my dad I guess, was buried at the cemetery near the church. Since I didn't know about the funeral service for him and I missed it completely, I was wondering if-"

"You want to visit his grave, don't you?"

"I was his first son, after all. I may not remember him that well, and he may have been a jerk to me, but it just seems like the right thing to do. And it won't hurt anyone by paying my regards to him."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"I think it'd be better if I didn't do this alone. I've done a lot of things by myself, but I don't want this to be one of them."

"Of course I'll come with you. I didn't know your father, but you'd do the same for me if our roles were reverse. Just one question, why now? In the middle of the night? Is it because you want to do it right away?"

"Well, for one thing it'd help me go to sleep instead of tugging at my mind all night and I can't be seen at his grave. People aren't supposed to know about me."

"Why not?"

"I should have been adopted years ago. My mom knows that I haven't found a new home yet, but I don't want to take any chances of running into her there during the day."

"Don't you want to see her?"

"No, not at all. I shouldn't even know who Jamie and Pippa are. They've been keeping me a secret. I should actually be somewhere else, forgetting about this town and everything that's happened to it."

"Well,"

Tooth grabbed Jack's hand again and smiled at him. "I'm glad that you're still here."

Jack blinked at her.

"Thanks."

* * *

**A/N: I FINALLY GOT THIS UP HALLELUJAH. long chapter here with so much emotional stuff**

**Time to Be: you dont know how glad I am to hear what you said about how "jack frost" jack was reacting. its always good to hear that im not breaking any characters **

**Blackirean Boltien: oh just wait til next chapter heheh. and thanks for saying how good this fic is. its definately the longest thing ive ever written (over 125,000 words! wow!)  
**

**Mystichawk: well i wouldnt call my brother's interests sad, because everyone has the freedom to choose what they like. and i think we've all established that the last chapter was sad. i tend to do better with serious topics rather than humor. probably because i use the hardships from my own life to inspire me to put all these things into words and create all these situations. im basically expressing myself and my inner demons through fictitious story plots  
i dont know if you've read my first fanfiction, but there were two chapters i wrote where the were meant to be humorous and i got positive reviews about how people thought they were hilarious but i wouldnt be able to write a fanfiction that was nothing but humorous. i would definitely run out of funny material but watch out for my next muli-chapter RotG fic, cause that one is supposed to have more humor too ;o)  
**

**Darkblade 2.0: i agree, death isn't something to joke about. every person has a life of their own with their own friends and their own families who would certainly miss them. and im sorry to hear about your grandmother. one of my grandmothers died when i was a baby, but if she was alive today everyone says we would have connected since they say i get all of my 'artistic talent' from her. im sure she would have liked me and i would have liked her  
**

***raises juice box* heres to always being a child ;D**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: SO CAN ANYONE ELSE IMAGINE JACK WITH AN ARMY OF PENGUINS CAUSE I CAN. he'll just be standing there, with an evil grin on his face with a thousand penguins behind him and tells them, "Tonight, we dine in Antarctica." and all of the penguins would be his friends because that how he coped with 300 hundred years of loneliness by befriending penguins. (ahaha okay, i'll shut up now)  
**

Chapter Thirty Five

"Shhh. My sisters are sleeping and my mom went to bed half an hour ago." Tooth whispered to Jack. "Don't make any noises; otherwise both of us will be in trouble."

She and Jack were cautiously making their way downstairs. They were planning on going out through the back door since it'D be safer than climbing out Tooth's window and down the tree in a pitch-black setting.

Tooth had always been a good girl and has always set a proper example for her sisters. Except now she was sneaking out of the house and she was paranoid. Every second she glanced behind her to make sure that Jack was still behind her or that no one else was in the hallway with them.

At first she was hesitant when Jack told her they'd be sneaking out of her own house as soon as possible, but then he reassured her that he wouldn't let them get caught. On Monday he made sure that Tooth didn't get into any trouble, and she decided to trust him again. Jack had told Tooth the first time he snuck out of the orphanage to calm her down. He was ten years old and if he could do it at that age, then Tooth could do it too. She was eighteen years old; surely she'd have more nerves than he did seven years ago.

They were almost at the back door when a flashlight was shined upon them, making them both freeze.

"Tooth?"

"Who's your friend?"

"He looks nice."

Tooth let out a sigh of relief. It was only her other sisters, the triplets. For a second she thought that it was her mother who had caught them.

The three girls crowded around Jack, inspecting him over and over and being pleased every time.

"Look at his teeth! They're so white!"

"Just like his hair!"

Jack wasn't sure what he should be doing. There was a flashlight shining on him like a spotlight while three little girls swarmed around him, peaking up at his mouth. It seemed that everyone in Tooth's family had a weakness for teeth. One of her sisters even swooned as if she was passing out. At least, Jack _thought _she was pretending to faint. He's never seen a bunch of little girls act so excited before.

"Girls! Girls! Don't disgrace the family name! Show some self-control!" Tooth beckoned to them. At once they obeyed her and straightened themselves into a line, fighting back the urge to squeal over Jack. Grabbing the flashlight from them, Tooth beamed the light on them and Jack was able to see them clearly in the dark house.

They were all wearing pajamas with teeth printed on the fabric and each of them looked like an identical clone of the other. The only difference between them was the color of the scrunchie that held their hair back. Other than that, they were older versions of Baby Tooth but younger than Tooth herself.

"Jack, these are my other sisters." Tooth said, motioning to them. "That's Tianna on the left, but we call her Ti for short. The one next to her is Tabitha, Tabby for short, and the last one is-"

"Let me guess, her name starts with the letter 'T' like everyone else." Jack cut in. "Because I've noticed a pattern between all of the names here."

"Her name is Anna."

"Oh."

"Girls, this is Jack Frost. He was the boy in photos from my camera."

Jack didn't say anything. He _is _Jack Frost, so of course he would be proven wrong in front of a bunch of seven year olds. Anna seemed to be the only one out of Tooth's siblings that had a name beginning with a different letter. He wondered what influenced her parents to do that.

The silence was quickly shattered when Ti, Tabby, and Anna resumed freaking out over how Jack looked. They swarmed around him again, jumping up so that they could see how white his teeth actually were. Even in the dim light provided they could see Jack's teeth under the glow of the flashlight.

"They're _really_ sparkly!"

"Yeah! Just like pearls!"

"No…I think they're more like-"

"White-out?"

"No…"

"Bleach?"

"Not that either..."

"I know! Snow!"

"Yeah! Freshly fallen snow!"

At this point, Jack wondered if Baby Tooth would grow up to be like her other sisters. He already had Tooth and the triplets compliment him on his teeth, and he wouldn't be surprised if Baby Tooth ended up just like them. But he didn't mind it, in fact, he was just glad they weren't gawking at his abnormally white hair like everyone else he's met.

"Girls calm down! What did Ii say earlier? Behave!" Tooth ordered. She didn't want her mother to hear all the ruckus going on, then they'd all be in trouble. "What are you three doing up right now anyway? It's _way_ past your bedtimes!"

"Does Mommy know you have a boy over?"

"Is Jack your boyfriend?"

"Duh! Remember? Jack was the one from the pictures!"

"Oh, yeah! And Toothie is always talking about-"

Tabby's mouth was covered by her big sister's hand, muffling what she was saying. At least, Jack thought that it was Tabby. He lost track of which sister was which in an instant. Their voices all sounded the same and he couldn't remember if Tabby had the teal scrunchie or if it was Ti. Jack couldn't imagine having identical triplets as siblings. They must have been a huge handful when they were babies.

Once Tooth let go of her sister's mouth, she sent all three of them back to bed and made sure that this night would remain a secret. Since Tooth was second in command when their dad was away, the triplets had no choice but to obey her.

Jack could see how disappointed they looked going back up the stairs, but he smiled and waved goodbye to them and they all grinned with glee. He could tell that they were going to miss him.

"Do they always act like that?" he asked Tooth while she put on her shoes. "The whole 'raving fanclub' thing, I mean."

"Not really. I guess they were just excited."

"So I guess my teeth must be like catnip for your family."

"They are! I've never seen a set of teeth like yours before, not even in when they're photoshopped in magazines."

Tooth opened the back door and made no sound in closing it. Her sisters had almost let the cat out of the bag by talking about Jack. If she hadn't covered Anna's mouth, she would have blurted out how her big sister has a crush on a certain white haired troublemaker. Tooth knew that she constantly chattered about Jack in front of her sisters, just not in front of her parents. Whenever the daughter of a family would get close to a boy, nobody wants to let her be with him by saying "you're too young for a boyfriend" or "he's not good enough" and Tooth didn't want that to happen. She really loved Jack.

He was mischievous, cold to certain people, but deep down Tooth knew how fun he could be. If her mom knew that she was sneaking out of the house with a boy who she had a crush on, she could become prohibited from seeing Jack ever again. Tooth didn't want to cut off her friendship with Jack. She was even wearing the locket he had given to her on Monday beneath her nightgown. It was on a new chain, one that couldn't be broken.

"Hey Tooth," Jack said. "I brought a lantern with me. It's over in the bushes near the tree I was in earlier. I'm going to go get it, okay?"

Tooth nodded, still hanging onto the flashlight she had taken from her sisters moments ago. Jack ran over to the shrubs and rustled around in them for a bit before coming back with his lantern. When he switched it on, Tooth saw that its light was brighter than her flashlight despite how old it looked. That lantern must have come from the late 90's, but it was shining as if it were brand new.

With their two sources of light switched on, both teens guided each other out of the neighborhood without a word; alert on anything that could arouse any suspicions. They didn't want to seem shady by traveling around the neighborhood in the middle of the night and if they were it'd be the buzz of the school. After Monday, both of them were tired of the extra attention from other peers.

The adrenaline along from breaking all the rules and sneaking out of the house with a boy on a school night kept Tooth awake but Jack didn't seem tired at all. Despite everything, he was looking stoic and well-rested.

Today must have been a hard one for him, finding out his father died and then having a heap of emotional moments. When Tooth first saw Jack outside her window, he looked tired and worn out but now he seemed fine. This is why she prefers to talk about problems rather than bundle them up on the inside; letting it all out will help anyone feel better.

Jack thought about the directions Jamie had given him. According to Jamie, the cemetery was by the church but Jack hadn't been to the church in years. His earliest memory of going to church must have been when he was in preschool. In fact, he barely remembered where the church was.

"Tooth, do you know how to get to the church in town?" he asked, turning to his companion. "My dad is supposed to be buried there."

"Sure. It's not that far a walk from here to the church. I think it's a few blocks past the café we were at last week."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh…"

"Well, that's good enough for me."

They were out of the neighborhood in minutes and entered the town. Very little noise echoed through the night, and there were partly any cars out on the road. Traffic lights and blinking signs were spread out along with the occasional street lamps and the duo no longer needed their lantern and flashlight, so they switched them off. For a Thursday night, the small town of Burgess was very well lit.

They walked around town until they reached the other side of it where they stood outside the church. The cemetery's gates were right next to it, and Jack walked through them without a second thought. However, it was a different story with Tooth.

She wasn't going to lie, she believed in ghosts and the afterlife. Every year at a Halloween party with her friends, Sandy would always share the most haunting and terrifying tales. Even with his disability they were terrifying. He always said they were just stories, but then he would wink and leave Tooth wondering what was fact and what was fiction.

It was dark, there was no light from the moon due to black clouds in the dark sky, and Tooth was about to walk into a graveyard. She took one step past its entrance she already felt like something was going to pop out of the ground and grab her leg. The only clothes she was wearing was a simple nightgown with her locket and a flashlight. Her cell phone was at home and Jack didn't even own one so if anything happened to them, no one would know.

"Are you coming, Tooth?" Jack called out from across the cemetery. "Because if you're scared, you can just wait there while I look for my dad's grave."

"No no, I'll come with you. I don't think we should split up here anyway."

Tooth turned her flashlight back on and Jack did the same with his lantern. Each gravestone Tooth passed to reach Jack was illuminated by her small beam of light. She was still scared something would happen to them, but she was here for Jack; she can't let him go through this alone. He's been alone for so long, and Tooth was going to make sure she and everyone else was going to be there for him from now on.

Jack held his lantern up to another tombstone, disappointed that this was the wrong one, again. He didn't know what his father's grave looked like; he was just searching for a name. "Jack, is this it?" Tooth asked him with her flashlight pointed to a grave in front of her. "It says Overland on it."

There was a wreath of flowers on the grave and Jack approached it with his lantern. He brought the light closer, reading what was engraved.

_R.I.P._

_Nathaniel Jackson Overland_

_Loving father, will not be forgotten._

Jack crouched down and touched the engraving where his name was. He never knew that his name came from his father's, no one ever thought to tell him. He didn't say anything; he just kept his eyes locked on where his dad was buried. The wind blew past them and Jack could feel tiny tears swell up in his eyes. They slid down his face and dropped onto the ground without a sound. He was biting his lip, not knowing what to say. It wasn't like he brought any flowers with him; he just had a lantern and very close friend.

He wished he had been there, at his father's funeral. If not he wished he could have at least watched it from a distance.

Pippa must miss him so much, and it occurred to Jack how different life would have been if his parents were still together.

Maybe if his dad was patient, they would all live happily under an actual house. They never would have started new families and they never would have left Jack behind.

But it was selfish to think like this. Jamie and Pippa were born _because _his parents left.

Tooth stood by Jack's side with a hand on his shoulder and shivered when another gust of air blew past them. "Ugh, if I knew it would be this cold outside, I would have worn something warmer."

"Here,"

Jack took his hoodie off, revealing his flannel shirt he was wearing beneath it. He wrapped his hoodie around Tooth before she could protest and he could tell that she was already feeling more comfortable with the extra layer. "Better?"

"But aren't you cold?"

"Are you kidding? I've slept in colder weather than this."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, long story."

Jack kept up his conversation with Tooth. It distracted him from the past and he didn't feel like making _another _scene about his father in front of Tooth.

"Well, it's not really a story but a bunch of tiny stories put together. I can tell them to you later."

"Oh, okay."

"So, are you still cold now?"

"No, not really."

Jack stood up and wrapped an arm around Tooth. "How about now?"

"Much better."

They were both smiling but due to their small sources of light, they couldn't see it. Tooth was glad that it was dark, there wasn't enough light for anyone to see them clearly and Jack wouldn't notice how flushed her face was. She was standing in a graveyard, wearing Jack's hoodie that was given to him by his mother, and had Jack's arm around her. If she didn't know any better, she would say they _did _look like a couple instead of just friends.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"Thinking about my family and my dad so much, I've been wondering about something."

"What?"

"Well, let's say this kid was born. And no matter how hard he tried at something, he would end up making a mess of everything. It's all unintentional, most of the time, but he doesn't really know what the outcome of certain things will be."

"What are you trying to day?"

Jack sighed and looked back at the ground.

"People would always be yelling at me growing up because I caused a lot of trouble. Some of it was on purpose. Other times? Not so much. They always said that I ruin everything, and that I'm a…mistake because of the stuff that I cause. I guess it was my family that kept me thinking about it, but I never really got a clear answer about if it was right or not. So what do you think?"

"What? Jack I-"

"No, not as my friend, but in general. Like, before last week, when you guys didn't even talk to me. Before we were friends and before we started working on the Easter egg hunt together. It's just a simple question, really. So yes or no?"

* * *

**A/N: and _another _thing. i know that im already thinking dumb and all but to everyone whos read the Guardians of Childhood books, its revealed that bunny wears clothes. now whenever i watch the movie, i cant help but think that he's streaking through the entire thing when we all know he probably wasn't wearing clothes for animation purposes, but still...  
i feel like i should write a quicl meaningless oneshot about jack seeing an old picture of bunny in clothes and wondering why he doesnt wear anything anymore.  
omfg this is what happens when i only get 3 hours of sleep i should just shut up right now.  
**

**TheAngelofIego: last chapter was like, fluffy and sad at the same time and thats what i was aiming for :)  
**

**creatorX33 and Sol and G'syr: *laughs while eating a salad alone* i just realized that im the only person on this planet who knows when theyre going to do that and i find it comical ;}  
**

**nellie: this fic is so loooonng. i could just print all the chapters out on pages and it would be as thick as a normal book (seriously, I think a novel is over 100,000 words)  
**

******avatarinuyasha: hey thanks! this is my first time writing a shippy fanfiction, and its good to know that im doing a good job with it :)**

******Darkblade 2.0: ugh i dont like needles at all. sewing needles? those are fine because they dont inject anything into your blood stream. medical needles? f*ck no. i start crying whenever one gets near me because thats how much i hate them. and the thing is, about a month before i had four vials of blood taken they took one vial before and i dont even know why. so basically, i had my blood taken twice in two months TnT  
*taps juiceboxes together* like you said, here here!  
**

**Mystichawk: you know what, im at the point where i actually look forward to your reviews. and yeah, i think all of us are like peter pan and we can all go to Never Land and live there**


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: ugh, i couldn't focus at all while writing this. and by the way, I am _totally_ writing those oneshots. i just need some ideas so if any of you guys have something i could use for them (especially the penguin army) either send me a message or leave it in your review! as soon as i get enough ideas for them i'll start writing them!  
**

Chapter Thirty Six

Tooth didn't know how to answer Jack. Before they met, she never really paid any attention to him at all. Sure, she had heard Aster complaining about Jack and had seen Sandy talking to him, but Tooth never really got around to meeting him in person. She had always meant to go talk to Jack at some point during the year, especially when she had heard rumors about how white his teeth were, but she was always busy with something else and the thought of befriending him was pushed to the back of her mind.

She had barely even seen Jack around school before last week and she didn't know that much about him aside from how late he would be to classes and how many pranks he'd pull throughout the school year. But she did know one thing, just because people make mistakes in their life doesn't mean they are one. They just leave open opportunities for improvements. They had all made a mistake by leaving Jack alone, and now they're all fixing it by being his friends.

"Jack, listen," she lightly started. Tooth didn't want to say anything that would accidentally upset him, but she also wanted Jack to see how silly he was acting. "To be honest, I didn't know enough about you to judge you, but that's my problem for not getting to know you sooner. But I can tell you one thing, you're not a mistake at all or anything even closely related to that."

Jack managed to chuckle a little, and gaped up at the dark sky while saying, "Clearly you've never seen the amount of times I've screwed something up. I made a mess of everything as a kid."

"But you were just a kid! Surely you've grown and changed since then! I mean, we all change when we grow up."

Tooth joined him in staring up at the blank sky, her tone growing softer. "We all had dreams about what we would become when we were kids, but not everyone meets those standards. Your life changes as you age, and you should just learn to let things go, Jack. The more you focus about it, the more you start to doubt yourself."

"I guess I'm just scared that…I'll make a mess of Easter. Every time there's some crucial point in my life that's really important, it just ends up in flames. And I never realized how important all this holiday stuff is to you guys until now, and if I let you guys down-"

"You'll do fine, Jack. I bet you're just nervous and dealing with a loss of a family member can be stressful. It's only natural to feel anxious since this is all new to you, but I promise that _everything _will turn out okay. Easter will be great."

"Then maybe we should stop talking about it, before we jinx it. The next thing we know someone says 'what can possibly go wrong' and then something unrealistically unlucky happens like a meteor collides with the planet on Easter."

Both of them laughed together. When placed in high-strung moments like right now, it was always good to take a little break and laugh, just to ease the mood.

"But really, Jack, I hope that you'll let some of these thoughts in your head go. You can't change the past, and moping about it all day won't solve anything either."

"Yeah, you're right."

Jack looked down at Tooth and smiled at her, glad that he had come to her house tonight. "But you know what's funny about all this? Ever since I was a kid, I've just been kicking myself over and over again. And for what? It just occurred to me that I didn't even do anything wrong, sometimes. I think most of my other mishaps were accidents."

"Weren't you listening to me back at my house? Of course they were accidents! And accidents happen all the time! Just...some accidents have more consequences than others. But none of them purposely happen!"

Once again, the two friends were thrust into a happy mood after coming out of a sad one. It felt weird to be so happy when you're surrounded by the remains of so many dead people, but that didn't faze either of them. They just stood in a graveyard and shared the night together.

Jack picked his lantern back up and turned the switch on. "You know, my parents got married the day before Easter."

"Really? That's-"

"But do you know what else happened that day? When I was still living with my mom, she used to tell me stories about her wedding with my dad. She said that while standing at the altar, she suddenly knew that it was time."

"Time for what?"

Jack turned to Tooth, grinning from ear to ear. "I turn eighteen the day before Easter, and I get to spend it with you guys!"

"Wait, what? Your birthday is before Easter? Jack, that's great! Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could have organized a party and everything!"

"Whoa, slow down Tooth, next week we have the egg hunt to worry about. I don't want to make you drop dead from so much work."

"It's your eighteenth birthday! All of us had big celebrations when we turned eighteen, and you especially deserve something-"

"Listen, every year I've never had any huge extravagant party for my birthdays. The orphanage just gives me a cupcake with a candle and I'm just fine with that. I don't want you to feel obligated to work your fingers to the bone just to throw me a birthday party next week."

"But-"

"And don't even bother with a surprise party. I don't want to wake up to see everyone in my room or anything."

"Ugh, fine. I won't throw you a party."

Tooth crossed her arms and pouted at Jack. She was still up to organizing him a party, especially after learning all that he's been through in the past. Jack was a fun guy; he deserved to have fun on his birthday and what would be more fun than a party?

"Why don't I take you home now?" he asked with his lantern lighting the way. "I have no idea what time it is, but it should be close to midnight."

"Yeah, and I need to get back home before anyone else notices I'm gone."

"I can hold your flashlight if you want. Seeing you're all…wrapped up there."

"Oh, yeah."

Jack's blue hoodie was still around Tooth's figure. The night had only grown colder and there was still some snow outside, surrounding them with ice.

Taking Tooth's flashlight, Jack tucked it in his back pocket and left the cemetery with Tooth. He wanted to stay out longer with her, but he knew she had other priorities. After all, she had a family who would notice her absence while Jack didn't even have a father anymore.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yes?"

"I don't think I'll be at school tomorrow, you know, death of a family member and all."

"Oh, okay."

Tooth was disappointed that Jack wouldn't be at school tomorrow, but she didn't dare object against it. She would just have to tell North not to drive them to the orphanage on their way to school tomorrow. "Do you want the others to know?" she asked. "Not about tonight, but about your dad and your childhood."

"You can tell them if you want, saves me the trouble of repeating myself. It was really tiring to tell it one time, and I don't really want to do it again."

"Okay."

They walked back into town and stopped at a street corner to wait for a red light. While standing at the corner, Tooth spotted a flyer stamped to one of the street lights. She moved closer to the advertisement, curious about what it was about.

"What's that?" Jack asked, coming over to where Tooth was. She was reading the bold print and turned back to Jack when she was done. "I know what this is! It's a flyer for the carnival that Burgess has every year around Easter!"

"I think I've heard of that. Isn't it the carnival on the other side of town?"

"That's the one! It's this weekend, wanna go?"

"Sure, sounds like fun."

"Have you even been to the carnival before?"

"Nope."

"You haven't? Half of the town always attends each year! The other guys and I go to it all the time and I thought that someone like you would be the kind of person to go all the time."

"Then I guess this year I'll be tagging along with you guys and going too. It'll be my first time going to the carnival and going with friends sounds like a lot of fun."

"Great! When I get home I can message the others and-"

"Tooth,"

"Hm?"

"You do realize what time it is, right? They probably won't wake up for a couple more hours."

"Oh…yeah, you're right. Heh."

Tooth was shy for the rest of the journey through town. When they reached her house it was ten minutes past midnight and Tooth returned Jack's hoodie to him.

They stood at Tooth's back door with Jack's lantern still lit. "Thanks for coming out with me," he told her. "Especially since I came to you so late at night without any kind of warning."

"No problem, Jack. What are friends for?"

Tooth was gazing into Jack's piercing blue eyes as he stared back. The moon in the sky had emerged from the clouds and watched over them, shining its silver beams. Everything was calm, and Jack turned to leave but Tooth grabbed his hand.

"Wait,"

"What?"

Tooth quickly gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek, thanked him for letting her have such a nice night, and then disappeared behind her door.

Jack was as still as a statue when Tooth left, shocked that she just kissed him on the cheek. Normally he would feel like he was soaring above the clouds, but not this time. Every man knew what a girl giving you a kiss on the cheek meant, you're stuck in the friend zone and there's no way out.

/

Tooth peaked out her window to watch Jack stand outside her house before he turned and left with his hood up. When he was out of view, she ran up to her room and flung herself down onto her bed.

She couldn't believe what she had just done. The mood was perfect for a quick kiss on the lips but did Tooth listen? No, she panicked at the last minute and decided to kiss Jack two inches away from her designated target. Now he would indefinitely just see her as a friend, nothing more than that.

Tooth rolled over onto her back and thought about tonight. She focused on her locket as she reviewed everything that Jack had said. His birthday was next week but it never hurt anyone to give them an early birthday present. The dolphin charm that Tooth and Sandy had made for Jack was sitting on her dresser, and Tooth swiped it up and put in her bag. She would give it to Jack while they were at the carnival on the weekend.

Jack was special to her, and Tooth remembered that her locket was still empty. When morning would come she would resize one of the photos Tiffany had accidentally taken of her and Jack on the ice. She would put a picture of them together in her locket, and it would always stay close to her heart.

Tooth rolled over in her bed, wondering what would happen tomorrow.

/

"So Frosty ain't comin to school today?" Aster asked. They were sitting in North's van on their way to the orphanage when Tooth just told them that Jack was staying home.

"Well, he just found out his dad died yesterday. He has the right to stay home if he wants to." Tooth answered.

"But I thought you told me he was an orphan."

"He is…"

"Then-"

"Yesterday Jack told me that he didn't start out as an orphan."

"Then what happened?" North cut in. He was also curious about Jack's past and his belly was telling him that it wasn't happy. "What did Jack say?"

"He just…told me everything. He said it was fine to tell you guys but some of that stuff was really personal and I don't know if I should tell the whole thing or leave out some of the more sensitive subjects."

"I dodn't see any harm in tellin us if Jack said you could." Aster remarked. "If there was something he didn't want you to say, then wouldn't he have just said so?"

Tooth shrugged and looked at Sandy, wanting to know if he had any input on Jack.

Sandy nodded his head to her, agreeing with North and Aster. They were all Jack's friends, his only friends as a matter of fact, but they were the closest thing he had to a family. Jack had already opened up to Tooth and now she should pass on his message to the rest of them. It would make it much easier to can understand him too.

North turned a corner and Tooth stared out her window, wondering where she should start. She had learned so much about Jack last night, and decided to repeat what he had said. "Okay, I'll be sure not to leave anything out but be warned, some parts can get a little difficult to follow. It's a really long story so all of you have to pay attention to everything in order to understand it all."

"Alright Tooth, we get it! Just tell us!" North beamed at her, craving to know why Jack's story had kept Tooth's tongue tied. He had liked Jack from the start and although he could act cold and distant at times, North still saw Jack as a child and admired that about him. He was special.

"Okay, so when Jack was a young child-"

Tooth retold Jack's past for the rest of the car ride. She made sure to remember every detail Jack had spoken of from the drawing on the wall he had made to when his mother left him. When she mentioned Jamie and Pippa's relationship to Jack's parents, the tension in the van grew high.

The other guys knew about the two children. They saw them frequently during the holiday events at the elementary school.

Aster knew about Jamie through Sophie, in which she would often sneak off to go play with Jamie and his friends. He was a good kid, always eager to look for eggs and watch after Sophie whenever she would escape to him. But knowing that he was related to Jack wasn't that surprising at all. In fact, Jamie even reminded Aster of Jack accounting how similar their personalities are. However, he didn't know Pippa as well as he did Jamie. North was the one who would see Pippa the most.

Every year during Christmas North would dress up as Santa Claus and parade around the elementary school. He made an excellent Santa, and Pippa thought so too. She loved Christmas, and what she loved even more was helping North pass out presents to all the girls and boys.

None of them knew the two kids that well or any of the kids as a matter of fact. They were too busy juggling holiday preparations and high school to visit them as much as Jack did.

When they arrived at the school none of them uttered a word. Tooth had finished telling them about Jack's family, leaving them speechless as to what they should say. "And uh, I guess that's all to say." Tooth said, feeling uncomfortable about the shift in mood.

North pulled into the school's parking lot and drove around without any particular goal in mind. He wasn't looking for anywhere to park at the moment; he was still in disbelief over what Tooth had told them.

It couldn't be true, could it? To think that someone who went through the unthinkable at such a young age grew up to be the Jack they all knew and love was devastating to them. Underneath his cold outer shell he was fun and laughed while playing around; but now it seemed like all of that was just a mask. And they were only realizing this now.

Sandy sat still in his seat, giving off no kind of emotional vibe whatsoever. Every time Sandy would contact Jack after getting in trouble at school he would seem fine. Careless, even. Sandy would sometimes laugh at the trouble Jack would cause, but other times he would tell the teen to behave or else it could spell disaster at home. Jack would always put on a broken smile and shrug it off, and now Sandy knew why Jack didn't care about discipline at home. He was basically alone.

Sandy wished that he could have helped Jack, they all did. He was different from them. He was never given the chance to come home from school and tell mom and dad about his day or settle down and watch movies with them. They weren't there.

It was the small things that counted in life, because you would never realize how much you miss them until they're gone. Jack never had any of those small things, so he didn't even know how it felt to miss something he never had.

"We should probably get inside before the bell rings." Tooth gently spoke out loud. She was stunned the first time Jack shared his backstory with her last night, but now she felt even worse about it. Telling it to her friends with a straight face and just didn't feel right. Tooth didn't know how to describe it, but Jack's childhood seemed like a taboo.

They felt so remorseful for Jack, who never had any friends until now.

Eventually, they entered the school and went to homeroom.

Aster had gone straight to his desk like the rest of his friends. He's always been hard on Jack in their past few years of high school. They were opposites before they became friends. They weren't the best friends now, but they were close enough to not completely hate each other.

Maybe the reason why they were so hostile around each other was because of how different their lives were. Aster had always grown up with his loving family and was too uptight in school to mess around all the time. Jack's mother left him as a child, leaving behind nothing but an article of clothing, and that turned Jack into what he is now. He had fun by himself, but didn't have any hope for the future like the rest of them.

Tooth had mentioned something about all of them going to the carnival together when they were on the road. It seemed like a great idea, it'll give them a chance to feel like they're on top of the world before school ends and they go down their separate paths.

Aster and everyone else had promised to keep in touch when they go to college, but they still had to work Jack into that equation somehow. He didn't have a phone, a computer, or even a proper home. The best that they could do would be to send letters to wherever he would end up after graduation.

While on the subject of Jack, Aster wondered what that boy was up to right now.

/

_Crreeeeaaaakk._

Jack froze in place by the door. He did not expect it to open so loudly. He thought that it would just open smoothly like the last time he was in Mr. Moon's office, but now it screeched like a banshee every time he nudged it just a little.

He was done mourning over his dead father. What he really needed to know was if anything else was happening with his disconnected family. Mr. Moon had a file on him that held too much information, and it was mandatory for Jack to look through it for any signs of what else is going on that he doesn't know about.

Jack slid through the opening of the door and pranced across the room. A chain of filing cabinets lined the wall, unlocked. There was a drawer labeled "F" and Jack pulled it open, hoping that the files would be sorted by last name. His eyes darted from each tab looking for his name when he finally found it in the back: Frost, Jackson.

Without any hesitation Jack grabbed it. As he held it in his hands he noticed that it seemed thicker than the rest of the files. There were more papers inside but that may be due to the fact that he had gotten so many notes over the years for causing mayhem. Still, Jack had to know what was inside.

He closed the cabinet and ran out of Mr. Moon's office before anyone could notice he was in there. It wasn't like there was anyone to tattle on him anyhow. Most of the orphans were at school which is why Jack wanted to stay home even more. There wasn't anyone around to notice him.

Jack ran through the hallways and up to the attic. He was alone when he took a seat on his bed to peak at his file's contents.

_Name: Frost, Jackson; originally named __Overland_ Frost, Jackson.  
Gender: Male  
Current Age: 17 years old  


Jack skipped past all of the general facts he knew and kept flipping through the pages. Any piece of information would be useful to him. Whether it was about his mother or about himself, anything new was what Jack was searching for.

The more time that passed the more Jack grew frustrated with himself. On his third sweep through his file he threw it down onto the floor out of anger. There wasn't one page where he found _anything _useful that he didn't already know about himself. He's thoroughly skimmed through everything only to find that his file was surprisingly accurate.

Actually, his accurate was spot on. It was even noted that he had a scar on his elbow he had gotten when he fell out of a tree five years ago.

But Jack wasn't supposed to be outside when he was climbing that tree, so he didn't tell anyone about it to avoid being yelled at.

He glanced down at the pile of papers lying on the floor. How did something he kept secret to himself end up being recorded? He remembered Mr. Moon saying something about his dreams being mentioned in his file, but Jack hadn't seen any traces of them written down.

There was a discarded behavior record poking out from under the pile. Curious, Jack picked it up. He read a few of the excerpts, seeing nothing that caught his attention.

_Zones out frequently._

That was an obvious fact. He daydreamed all the time in school. The teachers used to slam a ruler down on his desk to snap him out of it.

_May display symptoms of loneliness._

Jack rolled his eyes at seeing that. Gee, really? Did he, Jackson Frost, who spent his entire childhood alone, actually show characteristics of loneliness? Shocker!

He was about to throw the page down when the last note caught his attention.

_Shows mild signs of lucid dreaming._

Lucid dreaming? Did Mr. Moon write that?

Jack didn't know too much what lucid dreaming was, so he kept reading on to find out.

_Is partly aware what is taking place in his dreams. Not to his knowledge, but the world which he fantasizes about revolves around him. It is a quite vivid world._

At first, Jack didn't know what to make of any of this. If what he dreamt about at night wasn't recorded, then how did Mr. Moon know about them? How did he know how real his dreams were? Unless he could read minds, there was a chance that Mr. Moon knew something crucial that Jack didn't.

Come to think of it, Jack found it difficult to remember the last time he even had a dream. He knew that in his dreams they were all about to collect a specific baby tooth from a certain house, but Jack didn't recall any more details about it.

He sat on his bed with the piece of paper still in his hands. His eyes did nothing but scan the over the words repeatedly until they were almost memorized. Lucid dreamer…

They never taught him anything about lucid dreaming in school, but Jack had an idea of what it was. It was when someone was aware that they were dreaming, but he didn't understand how any of that tied in with him. He didn't think he was a lucid dreamer at all, just someone who had very vivid dreams that were similar to what would take place in his life. His dream self was summoned to be a guardian, and Jack was summoned to join Tooth and her friends who were the real world equivalence of the guardians.

None of this was making any sense to Jack and he found himself having a headache over it. He tossed the paper down to join the rest in the pile on the floor and for a while only stared at the ceiling, mulling over everything.

"Jack? Are you up there?"

It was Mr. Moon's voice and Jack sprang out of bed to collect the papers he had discarded on the floor. He hastily shoved them under his pillow right when the latch to the attic opened up.

"How are you feeling, Jack?" Mr. Moon asked as he entered the attic. "I understand your loss that you are facing, and I am terribly sorry for it."

Jack didn't say anything to Mr. Moon, he just watched the old man approach him and take a set on the foot of his bed. Jack shuffled to the front of his pillow so that it was behind his back, not wanting Mr. Moon to have any clues that a stolen file was underneath it. None of the orphans were allowed to look at their files, they may change something or learn something they weren't supposed to know and as far as Jack could tell, there was a lot he didn't know.

"Yeah," he answered in an attempt to act natural. "I'm sure you're feeling sorry for me too but I'm okay, really."

"Well, it's good to know that you're getting over it. A loss of a family member can be painfully devastating."

"I barely even knew my dad, and how did you know that he died? I didn't tell you anything about him."

"I was reading the obituaries in the newspaper yesterday and came across your father's name. It seemed like his wife and daughter loved him very much."

"Yeah, they…you know, they were his family. Now, if you're done telling my things about my life that I already know, you can-"

"Actually, one more thing, Jack. I was doing some paperwork in my office just now and I had to sort through my files. However, I noticed that your file was missing, and I was wondering if you know anything that may be related to its whereabouts."

"No."

"Alright."

Mr. Moon stood up and turned to leave. He was about to climb down the ladder when Jack interrupted him. "Wait,"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Actually, I have a question for you this time."

Jack pulled out his file from underneath his pillow, not caring that Mr. Moon now knew that he took it. "I've been looking through this, and it says something about lucid dreaming."

"Yes, it does."

"And I know that you know a lot about me from reading my file,"

"Correct."

Jack stood up and flipped through the papers while walking over to where Mr. Moon was standing. "But what I want to know is how secrets that I've kept to myself ended up in this folder. When we first met, you said something about my dreams and how they're mentioned in my file yet I have looked through every page multiple times and found _nothing_ about them. I haven't told a living soul about my dreams, I haven't even mentioned them out loud! And somehow, you know all about them like an expert."

"I think you should sit down for this, Jack."

"Why?"

"Because what I'm about to tell you will shock you, and you will most likely not understand it."

"Understand what?"

"Sit down."

Jack still clenched his file as he sat back on his bed. Mr. Moon stood in front of him and continued. "You started to have your dreams last month, did you not?"

"I don't know! All I know is that they've been happening for a while until they just…stopped. I haven't had a dream for a couple of days now."

"Tell me, have you ever heard of the theory that all dreams are nothing but another reality?"

"What?"

Mr. Moon took a seat from Jack and took the file from him. "The mind is a very powerful thing, especially when it is still growing and developing, just like yours. It goes into more depth than you know."

"And what does this have to do with anything?"

"It is just something for you to think about."

"Are you trying to say that there's more about the dreams that I have?"

"You should already know."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. You just aren't aware that you know. And that is why you have such vivid dreams."

"What the heck are you talking about?!"

"The time will come for me to tell you, just not now."

"No, I think the time _has _come and it _is _right now. Tell me what's going on!"

"Well, it will be so interesting when you finally realize what's happening."

"What? Mr. Moon, you're not making any sense!"

Jack was perplexed about what he was supposed to know. Mr. Moon left the attic with his file and Jack was alone once again. He sighed, wishing that he understood what he subconsciously knew. According to Mr. Moon, his dreams mean something else, but he didn't explain anything at all!

This was why he never liked to talk to Mr. Moon, every conversation with that mysterious old man left Jack's brain in a contortion.

* * *

**A/N: hey everyone! on august 2nd i will be in florida at disney world and with my relatives! and then i come back to my computer on august 9th so no updates for a while D:  
**

**oh yeah and fun fact about me, i went to the allergy clinic again. as it turns out, the milk allergy ive had all my life faded away from my system almost eight years ago so my life is a lie. and apparently im allergic to cherries and peanuts too, meaning i have to carry around an EpiPen and give myself an injection in the thigh any time i have an allergic reaction. as if my extreme fear of injections and needles couldn't get any worse**

**but enough of my rambles.**

**rats xp: omg this story is _far _from over. i bet i'll still be posting chapters when school starts D:**

**Darkblade 2.0: *slurps juice box* my favorite type of juice is definitely apple juice  
**

**Mystichawk: heheh, i don't think you want to know what i have planned for sandy *wink wink***

**nellie:asdfhk thanks for telling me this is well-written, i posted 36 chapters so far and im still having doubts about this fic  
**

**Blakirean Boltien: WAS THIS LONG ENOUGH FOR YA. haha, just kidding. i noticed that last chapter was pretty short too but i just wanted to leave a nice cliffhanger. this chapter is over 5,000 words  
**

**and again, if anyone has any ideas for a Penguin Army oneshot or a Why is the Easter Bunny Naked oneshot please feel free to send them in!**


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: omg so while i was on vacation i got a few emails from people reviewing my first fanfiction and all i do is just asdfghjkl because i wrote that fic when i was in my 'fangirl stage' and im sill getting people telling me how good it is ;A;  
**

Chapter Thirty Seven

Jack hadn't done much for the rest of Friday. He just spent the rest of the day in the attic, contemplating on what Mr. Moon had told him. His friends didn't come by the orphanage either, probably busy with school.

It was Saturday and Jack was spending it on the roof again. He was on his back with his hands behind his head, aimlessly gazing up at the snow-white clouds drifting above him. It was the only white substance in abundance anymore. There was hardly any snow around town that hadn't melted yet and any large quantities of snow was held in the trees. A few patches of grass were here and there but in other places like the park, where it was out in the open, it was still under a blanket. The park was so far away from town, far away from exhaust caused by cars or heated buildings.

Jack wished that spring wasn't approaching so soon, he liked the cold.

There was all sorts of activities you could do in the snow. Snowball fights was what Jack liked the most, but other games like sledding and ice-skating was fun too. Except he right now he was alone, and playing by yourself wasn't as fun as playing with your friends. He couldn't have a snowball fight by himself anyway.

But Jack didn't make any plans for today; he wouldn't be going to the carnival with his friends until tomorrow. They'd be going on Sunday for convenience, when there wouldn't be a heard of people running around and packing into rides like a can of sardines.

Tomorrow, when the circumstances were right, Jack would try to advance out of the friend zone with Tooth. He didn't care that she just saw him as a friend, she may be the only person he has chance with.

There was an enormous ferris-wheel at the carnival, one that could be spotted from miles away. Jack wanted to ride it with Tooth, that way there would be no interruptions when he made a move. She couldn't possibly say no while they were sitting together on a ginormous ride. Unless…she turned him down. Then the rest of the ride together would just be uncomfortable, not to mention their friendship after that. But Tooth was a cool girl, and Jack was sure that she wouldn't let a little bump in their friendship ruin anything between them.

Jack transitioned to a standing position and leaned against the chimney. He stared off at the forest, overviewing the lake. With the weather beginning to warm up the lake would start to slowly thaw, thinning the ice. It was a shame it was too late to skate on it now, skating on the ice was so relaxing.

While Jack became lost in his thoughts he didn't notice that North's van was driving towards the orphanage. He wasn't looking at the road, just focusing on the lake.

North pulled up and parked in front of the orphanage. When he unlocked the doors everyone inside clambered out. They felt guilty for not seeing Jack at all on Friday, but they had to do homework after school and arrange time schedules for tomorrow.

"So does Jack really live in the attic of this place?" Aster asked, since this was his first time visiting Jack at his home. "Seems kinda depressing if you ask me."

The entire building seemed to be made of wood with peeling paint coating the outside. There were a few kids playing in the front lawn, most likely some of the orphan children that lived there, and they were laughing while playing in whatever snow was left.

"They don't seem to mind how the building looks." North observed. He thought about organizing a fundraiser later on to help repair the orphanage so that it didn't look so sad. He was handy when it came to working with wood, he should be able to make the orphanage look as good as new in no time.

Instead of just leaning against the chimney, Jack was actually crouching on top of it now. He didn't have to worry about somebody lighting a fire, the fire place was broken and has been off limits for years. The only danger to Jack would be falling off the roof.

He decided to look down to see what was going on and saw North's van. What was that doing here? Jack hadn't even noticed that his friends had arrived nor did he expect to see them today. Their reason for being here was without a doubt to check on him, and Jack could see all four of his friends walk to the front door of the orphanage. They must have not seen him on the roof. "Hey you guys!" he called down. "Hey!"

Jack watched them react to his voice and laughed at how lost they were looking around to where he was. Not once did they think to look up to realize that he was actually over their heads. They were so misguided that it was amusing. "I'm up here! On the chimney!"

When they finally looked up to see him perched on the peak of the orphanage, Jack could hear Tooth gasp but he only smiled and waved. This was their first time seeing Jack on the roof of a three story building, and he was doing it without any kind of support. He was just sitting on the short chimney and acting as if this was all casual to him. As a matter of fact, _was_ causal for him. He'd been going up on the roof for years.

"Jack, what are you doing up there?!" Tooth yelled up to him. "Get down before you get hurt!"

There was a look of distress on everyone's faces at seeing Jack so high up. Even Aster looked like he would make a mess in his pants if Jack fell. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to scare them, Jack agreed to climb down. "Alright, here I come!"

Jack jumped down from the chimney and landed on the roof. A few times he pretended to stumble or slip, smirking at the reactions his friends made, until he made his way to the drainpipe. Jack lowered himself to the ground and walked over to where his friends were. All of their mouths were wide open at what he just did. All except North, who had seen Jack climb the drainpipe last week. He was just surprised that Jack had gotten so high up on his own. Jack however, was smiling. "Okay, I got down from the roof and here I am. Happy?"

Sandy gave him a thumbs up, impressed at how nimble he was when getting down, and Aster just crossed his arms while mumbling something under his breath. Tooth however; she was just relieved that he had gotten down without harming himself in any way.

"But I have to admit," Jack said while turning to Aster. "I'm _surprised _at you Kangaroo. I thought you were going to faint like an old lady when I grabbed the drainpipe."

"Rack off Frost." Aster retorted coldly. He was annoyed at how careless Jack was when climbing down. Pretending to slip up, just because he wanted a few laughs! "Bloody show pony."

"So you _were_ impressed"

"No, I wasn't. What were you even doin' up there in the first place?"

"Why did you guys even come here in the first place?"

"That didn't answer my question."

"I answered your question with a question. So why don't you guys answer my question and tell me why you're all here?"

"We came to see how you were doin'."

"Really, now?"

"Yeah."

"Well…you're here now."

"Yeah, and you seem to be actin normal. So why don't you tell all of us what you were doin' on your roof in the first place? And don't even think about changing the subject again."

"You're pretty nosy for, Kangaroo."

Sandy tugged on Jack's hood and caught his attention. When Jack turned to him, Sandy pointed over to Tooth, who was giving him an easeful look. "We're your friends, Jack." she calmly said to him. "And you can tell us anything that's on your mind."

Jack was silent as he was surrounded by his only friends in existence. They were all focused on him, not even flinching when a cold gust of air whisked past them. Not even Aster seemed to be bothered by it. Jack began to chuckle at them.

"What is it?" North asked, clueless at what Jack found so humorous all of a sudden. They were here to see if he was okay, not stand around and watch him laugh at who knows what. "Does everyone have trust issues with me?" Jack joked at them. "Seriously, all of you are acting like there's some dark secret full of angst hidden deep down inside me that I'm hiding from everyone. Do all of you think I'm lying every time I respond to something?" There was still a toothy grin on Jacks face. "And then you guys go on and on about how your my friends but have you forgotten that I'm your friend too?"

With Jack smiling as if there was nothing that could ruin this day, his cheerful mood quickly spread to the others. North was the first to be affected by it. "You know what?" he beamed at the rest of his friends, his tone jolly. "I think Jack is right! We're all friends here, why not trust each other?"

"See? North has the right idea in his head. And we're all here right now, why don't we all do something fun together while the sun is still up? It's a Saturday after all, and I didn't see much of you guys on Friday."

It was amazing how quickly Jack had changed the subject again. North, Aster, Tooth, and Sandy thought that they would be comforting him while he opened up. Instead, he was talking about having a good time together.

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Aster asked. "Because-AGH!"

Jack laughed as Aster brushed the snow off of his face. Just because the snow was melting didn't mean that you couldn't have any snowball fights, and Jack loved snowball fights. Sandy was laughing as well, and ducked when Aster threw a snowball at Jack, who ran out of the way. The clump of snow ended up hitting Tooth, who smiled and made a snowball of her own.

A domino effect escalated and before they knew it, the five high school seniors were running around throwing snow at each other. It was all just for fun, and nobody was really aiming at anyone in particular. They were all just laughing and aimlessly throwing snow at whoever crossed paths with them. And it all started with Jack throwing one snowball at Aster.

Jack climbed up one of the trees and shook one of the branches. A pile of snow fell on Sandy's head and Jack laughed about it, until Sandy got North to form an alliance with him and the two of them ganged up on Jack together.

From inside the orphanage the group of friends could be seen playing in the half-melted snow through the window. The caretaker of the orphanage stood by that window, gazing at the white haired boy who was the spark of fun within the group. Mr. Moon said no words, but simply just thought to himself. He knew what was really going on, and Jack should enjoy his time here while it lasts.

OoOoO

Days had turned into months. Three months, to be exact.

Tooth sighed to herself and marked the calendar hanging on the wall. The grid was their only record of how long the guardian of fun had been asleep, and it was painful just to look at it. In all of their years of being immortal, none of them have ever had to deal with a spirit in a coma before. The longest any of them have been asleep was only for a few days after working hard.

"Is he still asleep?" North asked, walking into the room where Jack was sleeping. Tooth was by his side, watching for any hints of consciousness, but today was the same as any other day: nothing.

"He hasn't even moved." she responded. "I know that he's breathing, and that he's alive but he's just…frozen."

"Manny hasn't said anything new either. Just the same old 'he's not ready yet to be woken up' mumbo jumbo. I just wish he would let us know that we can do more for Jack than just sit here!"

"What about Sandy? Did he find anything out?"

North grimly shook his head and took a seat next to his fellow guardian. "I don't even know if Sandy expects anything new to come up. Every time he tries to figure something out about this mess, he just comes up empty-handed."

"And Bunny? Did he ever find out if Pitch has anything to do with all this?"

"He's been to Pitch's lair every time he's near the Burgess area. According to him, Pitch isn't even strong enough to put a spirit to sleep for so long. Not even Sandy is capable of making someone go comatose for three months straight."

Tooth grabbed Jack's hand. It was amazing how cold he was, almost as if he was dead, but the hummingbird fairy hybrid prayed to the moon that it wouldn't come to that. As long as his chest rised with every silent breath he took, Jack was alive.

A tap at the window jostled the two guardians and directed their attention to the sandman outside. "Afternoon, Sandy." North opened the window for his comrade and the golden man drifted in on his dream sand. "Did you happen to see Bunny on your way here?"

Sandy shook his head and created a model of Burgess over his head.

"He's in Burgess?"

The town vanished as Sandy gave a nod of his head. He peered over Tooth's shoulder to see Jack asleep in the same bed that he's been unconscious in ever since day one. It was so haunting to see Jack like this. Day in and day out his piercing blue eyes would remain shut and his body was as frozen as the ice he used to make.

They were growing anxious again, but they must not lose hope. Even if the actual guardian of hope wasn't present with them, they still had to believe that Jack would open his eyes again.

/

"What's wrong, Abby? Is there something out there?" Jamie moved to the window to determine what his dog was growling at outside. He didn't see anything suspicious, until he saw a figure blaze past the trees. He gasped and stepped back from his window. "Did you see that Abby? It could be him!"

Jamie bolted out of his room and ran downstairs. He put on his winter jacket and boots before sprinting out the back door. "Jack? Is that you?" He looked in every direction but saw nothing but bare trees. "Jack?"

"Nah, mate, it's just me."

"Bunny!"

Jamie turned around to see none other than the Easter Bunny standing behind him. He wasn't Jack Frost, but it was still a pleasure to see him. "Hi, Bunny! What are you doing here? It's winter and Easter isn't for another season."

"I'm just passing through is all."

"Oh, then can I ask you something?"

Bunnymund already knew what Jamie was going to ask about. Jack hadn't been to Burgess in months and winter had begun days ago. With the spirit of winter stuck at the North Pole, there wasn't anyone to frost the town over. Not a single snowflake had fallen since autumn ended, and it was an abnormal act in the town of Burgess.

"What is it, Jamie?"

"Well…it's just that I haven't seen Jack for a long time and I was wondering if you know where he is? Is he doing some guardian stuff?"

"Yeah, he's…really busy right now. Frostbite's dealing with all that global warming nonsense."

"Really? My dad said global warming is nonsense but my mom is worried about it and people have been saying California and Florida are going to be underwater soon. Is that what Jack is doing? Freezing the ice caps?"

"Listen, Jamie, I'm kinda in a hurry right now to get to the North Pole and-"

"Why are you going to the North Pole? I thought you didn't like the cold."

"It's guardian business. We're havin' a meeting."

"Oh. Well, if you see Jack can you tell him that we all miss him here? We haven't had a snow day for a while and snowball fights aren't as fun without him."

"Sure thing, Jamie."

The young believer waved goodbye to the Easter Bunny and watched him hop down a rabbit hole. A flower popped out of the ground where the tunnel had closed up and Jamie glanced at it before going back inside. He was disappointed that Jack's guardian duties was preventing him from making it snow in Burgess, but it must be important if it kept him away for so long.

Jamie turned around and walked back inside his house. He passed Sophie in the hallway, who had ran down to see what was going on. "What's happening?" she asked. "It's nothing, Sophie." Jamie answered. "I just saw Bunny in the backyard."

"Bunny! Hop hop!"

"Right...hop hop."

"What about Jack? Where the snow?"

"Jack is busy saving the world from global warming. Now, you should get going to bed, Sophie. Otherwise Mom will come and yell at both of us."

"But me not tired!"

"Just go to bed, okay?"

Jamie was disgruntled. He knew that Jack was tied up with saving the world, but couldn't he at least send a cold front to Burgess? From the looks of the recent weather patterns, it seemed like Jack wouldn't be making it snow any time soon.

/

Bunnymund hopped through his tunnel to get to Santoff Clausen. His chat with Jamie had made him late, and being late was the last thing that he wanted.

The last time Bunny had seen Jack was yesterday when he was still asleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't wake up today. Jack could wake up at any second, and that idea is what had kept the Pooka so hopeful for the past three months.

All odds were against the guardians on this one. Manny wasn't providiing any assistance to them and they hadn't come up with a new idea in months. The only thing that they could do was visit the sleeping winter sprite every night only to see that he was still sleeping.

Bunnymund opened up another tunnel and stood outside North's workshop. It was freezing cold, but he didn't have time to complain as he hopped to the building at once. He entered the same room that he's been visiting for days and saw that the rest of the guardians were already assembled at Jack's bedside. "How's Sleeping Beauty?"

"Still the same." North answered. "What about Burgess?"

"I tell ya, that place is just plain weird to be in right now. I can't remember the last time I saw it without snow during winter. I didn't even see any frost on the windows."

"Did you see Jamie?"

"Sure did. He was wonderin' why Jack wasn't there, so I just told him that Jack was busy with global warming and left. But if this keeps up, I have a feeling that Burgess won't get any snow days this year."

Bunny crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He'd never admit it, but he actually missed being ticked off by Jack. There wasn't anyone around to spread frost and life was too dull without the guardian of fun around to cause mischief.

Whatever Jack was doing, they all hoped that he would stop so that they could hear his laughter again.

OoOoO

"See you guys tomorrow!"

Jack stood in the front lawn of the orphanage and waved goodbye to his friends. They had spent all day playing in the melting snow, and Jack still had snow in his hoodie from when Aster hit him from behind. It was fun having a snowball fight with his friends, now they were being carried away in North's car. Jack wished that the day hadn't passed by so fast, but he had tomorrow to look forward to.

The sun had set and Jack retreated back to the orphanage. He was tired from playing outside all day, and going to bed seemed like a good idea in his eyes.

When Jack changed into his sleeping attire he was ready for bed. Hew as about to climb under his bedsheets but was halted when he heard Mr. Moon coming. "Jack? Can I have a word with you for a moment?"

Jack groaned. "Right now? I'm about to go to bed."

"Don't worry, this won't take long."

Mr. Moon climbed up the ladder and joined Jack who sat on his bed. "If this is another thing about what goes on in my head while I sleep, then can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"I think it would be best if you heard this now."

"Fine, go ahead."

Jack was slightly apathetic to what Mr. Moon had to say, but was also interested as to why they had to talk right now.

"Jack, remember when I was talking about different theories for dreams earlier in the week?"

"You mean when you were going on about other realities? Yeah, and I still have no idea what you meant by that."

"Well, there is another theory that I would like to enlighten you on."

"What is it?"

"It's the idea that certain dreams can actually foreshadow future events."

"Wait, first you tell me that dreams are like another world, and now you're telling me they're hints for the real world?"

"Under the current circumstances, yes."

"What circumstances? And how do you even know about all this dream stuff?"

"Let's just say that there is a lot that you don't know, Jack. But, I would like you to think about everything that I've said to you so far. It will only make it easier for you to realize what's going on."

"Can't you just tell me? Or at least stop talking in riddles? You've stumped me on what I'm supposed to figure out."

"This is something that you must find out yourself, Jack."

"But-"

"Goodnight."

"Wait! I still don't know-"

Mr. Moon closed the latch to the attic as he departed, leaving Jack alone once again. "But that was just pointless!" Their talk lasted no longer than a minute, and all Jack could do now was think about his dreamt up fantasy world. From what he has seen so far, it was aligned with his actual life, and now Mr. Moon presented him with new information that only made it more complex.

What are his dreams trying to tell him? What do they mean? And how is he supposed to figure them out?

Mr. Moon didn't help at all. He just left Jack with more questions than answers.

Jack shook his head. Thoughts like this would make him go crazy! That is, if he's not already there. But it was late at night and Jack desperately needed to go to sleep. As he rested his head on his pillow, he wondered if any dreams he may get tonight would mean anything.

* * *

**A/N: you guys are making a 14 year old girl cry with your kind words. I don't know what happened to me on vacation, but after coming back I'm just...not the same author I was last week. You have no idea how sh*tty i felt when writing this chapter. But what's scaring me the most is how I'm feeling about this fic in general. I haven't even finished writing this thing yet and i've been working on it all summer. **

**And I have all these other great ideas for fanfictions after this one but I can't start them yet because I want to get this one out of the way first.**

**when I first started writing this fanfiction, I felt confident and I was super pumped about it. But now, there's just this little voice in my head making me want to delete everything I have ever done but I would _never_ do that to you guys. I love all of you and I would never delete a fic that people are interested in.**

**but I don't know if it's the plot, or what's going on right now, but I have just lost my ability to actually write passionately for this. I REALLY want to finish this but every chapter I post just reminds me how much this fic is dragging on so either way I'm just having a constant battle with myself :'(**


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: omg omg omg my first year of high school is approaching and i know i wont survive ;A;**

Chapter Thirty Eight

"No!"

Jack shot through the air like a missile. This couldn't be happening, there's no way any of this is real! This can't happen! They were just starting to become friends!

"Jack!" North yelled after him. Tooth flew out of the sleigh to follow Jack, but didn't make it far due to a wave of nightmare sand that blocked her path.

With an arrow in his back, Sandy glanced up at Pitch. He was smiling triumphantly down at him, both of them knowing what was about to come next. Sandy was just shocked that Pitch was actually going through with killing him. Over all of the centuries they've battled, neither of them have even thought of ending each other's life. It was always a constant clash between light and dark that would never end. As long as there was good in the world, there would be evil to balance it out. This cycle had no end, but now the darkness was finally devouring the light.

Sandy closed his eyes as Pitch's arrow corrupted his glorious dream sand. He had lost, and he could do nothing but accept his fate. Even though he was about to disappear, the sandman did not cry. Instead, he just felt remorse for having to leave so soon. If only he could stay just a little while longer, with Jack and the other guardians...

And then he was gone. The black sand consumed him.

Jack Frost had been too late.

/

Jack bolted upright in his bed, gasping for breath. He shook in a fearful cold sweat while wide awake and alone in his room. His whole body was still trembling when he went down to the bathroom to try to clam his rattled nerves.

The hissing sound of cold water flowing through the faucet drowned out any other noises. With his head pounding, Jack cupped his hands and splashed the water on his face. Eventually he relaxed enough to stop shaking but his mind was still replaying what had gone on in his nightmarish dream.

The first dream he's had in days...and it was about Sandy being shot and killed. Earlier last night Mr. Moon had said something about dreams foreshadowing the future, so did this mean Sandy was in danger?

If all of his other dreams became similar to his actual life, then Jack hoped that this one wouldn't be. He didn't want Sandy to become injured, he couldn't bare it. But to think of losing any of his friends made Jack bury his face in his hands and slouch against the wall. He shouldn't think like this. Overthinking never solves anything. In fact, the chance of Sandy being shot in the back with a bow and arrow was highly unlikely. Even if Sandy went near a sharp object today, Jack's premonition probably meant Sandy would just get pricked; nothing serious. Heck, there might not even be any threats! This dream could just be pointless and random, not everything has to have a meaning to it.

Today is Sunday, so Jack and everyone else would be at the carnival all day. Unless they passed by an archery range, Jack was sure that Sandy would not be impaled and die.

Sandy is strong and determined, just like all of Jack's other friends. They can pull through anything.

His nerves were still rattled when he stood back up. Just because Jack couldn't help Sandy in his dreams, that didn't mean he couldn't protect him today.

More cold water streamed from the faucet while Jack began to brush his teeth. He scrubbed in every book and cranny in his mouth until the minty flavor of the toothpaste faded. There was no use in going back to bed after waking up with a heart attack, so he might as well get ready for the day.

After rinsing and completing his daily morning routine, Jack retreated back to the attic. After all, he had to change out of his underwear if he wanted to go to the carnival today.

He decided to wear the blue and white flannel shirt Tooth bought him last week. Regardless of growing repetitive in wearing the outfit, Jack wanted his appearance to be improved if he planned on doing anything alone with Tooth today. His plan of riding the ferris-wheel with her was still a realistic option.

Jack went down to the kitchen after getting dressed. He wasn't feeling too hungry after dreaming about one of his friends dying, so Jack barely ate anything for breakfast. Since North should be swinging by soon to pick him up, he walked outside and waited by the mailbox.

Any snow outside that could be salvaged was already gone. Even the icicles hanging from the edge of the roof were slowly, dripping away.

Jack didn't want to think about his dream and Sandy. He kept doubting any thoughts of danger just so that he wouldn't feel anxious.

Why wasn't North here yet? If he didn't come soon, Jack would paranoid that disaster had already struck...

Luckily, the red van he's come to know and love came screeching around the corner. If North's reckless driving didn't snap Jack out of his daze, then nothing would.

"Morning, Jack!" North had the windows rolled down and Jack could hear the loud music playing from inside. He waved at his friends as North parked their transportation in front of the orphanage, almost hitting the mailbox.

The van was righting in front of Jack and he could see that Sandy and Tooth were sitting in the back with Aster, leaving the front seat open. "Ready, Jack?" North asked while unlocking the door.

"Let's do this."

"Then come on!"

Jack flung open the door and scampered inside. Once in his seat, he looked behind him to see Aster with...his sister? "Sophie? What are you doing here?"

Sophie was sitting to Aster's left while her brother made sure she was properly strapped in. Jack looked at him, surprised that he had brought his four year old sister with him. Jack didn't even know that Sophie was going to tag along with them. "Aster, you didn't tell me that you were bringing your sister."

"She was basically begging me to bring her along when she found out where I was going today. There's nothing that Sophie loves more than carnivals and all the fun stuff that goes on there."

"I love them!" Sophie chimed in. She was smiling and obviously excited about attending a carnival with her older brother.

"Well, the more the merrier." Jack responded, turning back around. It didn't matter that Sophie was joining them on their trip to the carnival today, he just hoped that nothing unfortunate would happen to anyone.

North put his van into drive and soon he found himself driving everyone down the road. "Are you excited about today, Jack?"

Jack didn't hear North. He was too occupied on the rear view mirror where he could keep and eye on Sandy behind him.

"Jack!" Tooth tapped Jack's shoulder and disrupted his focus. He blinked at first, then turned to Tooth. "Hm? What is it?"

"North asked you if you're excited about e today."

"Oh, yeah! I totally am! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"That's okay! I've been to the carnival lots of times, and it's a lot of fun so I'm sure we'll all have a blast!"

"Yeah, me too."

"And I just know that today is going to be a day we'll all remember!"

"Yeah..."

Jack's eyes darted back to the rear view mirror. Sandy was fast asleep in his seat, not knowing that Jack was keeping a watchful eye on him. Neither of them knew what was about to come, or what it was.

/

Jack couldn't relax no matter how hard he tried. With every attempt to reassure himself that Sandy was going to be safe, he was still wary of danger. His eyes would continually shift from Sandy, to his other friends, to their passing surroundings, and then to the mirrors.

"What's eatin at ya, Frosty? You've been looking over your shoulder ever since we picked you up."

"Yeah! Watcha looking for?" Aster and Sophie brought Jack's attention away from his anxiety and to his friends, who were all staring at him as if he had just committed a murder. They must have noticed how he kept glancing at everything from time to time.

"I'm just bored." he dryly lied. Jack turned back to his window and stared at the road. He desperately needed something or distract his mind away from his dream.

Or maybe he didn't need_ something_ to distract him, but_ someone_...

Jack moved his eyes back to the rear view mirror. He saw Tooth's beautiful reflection inside of it while she talked and socialized with everyone in the back seats. She was wearing the gold locket that he'd given to her about a week ago. After Gerald had snapped the chain, Tooth had replaced it with one that was sturdier and a silver color. On that same day, Jack was inches away from kissing Tooth in the hallway. Then a few days later on Friday, she had pecked him on the cheek.

Tooth was currently holding a conversation with Aster and Sophie while Sandy watched. Sophie scooted away from Tooth, not wanting to play peek-a-boo with her. It wasn't that she didn't like to play games with her, but Tooth was trying way too hard to be friendly with Sophie. She didn't comprehend that she was actually scaring the child.

North was talking as well. He wasn't actually directing his speech to one person in particular, just to anyone that was listening. In his case, Sandy was paying attention to everything like he always does; even if he has no interest in what North was saying in any way.

Jack leaned back in his seat and focused on the road again. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't find a way to join into the conversations going on around him. Instead, he just relaxed to the hum of the van running over the asphalt road.

/

All of them exited North's van when they stopped in the parking lot. Aster was keeping track of Sophie by holding her hand, not wanting her to run off. "So whaddya guys want to do first? We've got all day to spend here."

Jack had never seen the carnival up close before. They haven't even passed through the entrance gate yet and he could already see the ferris-wheel and the roller coaster. They were real eye-catchers. "The roller coaster looks cool. We can go on that later on in the day."

"Oh no, there is no way I'm goin on a roller coaster. Being driven by North is already enough of a heart attack, I-"

"What's the matter, kangaroo? Scared of a little excitement in your life?"

"Tch, don't even start, Frost." Aster dragged Sophie past Jack. He wasn't about to start one of their infamous arguments with his little sister as a witness, she was only in preschool!

Feeling accomplished about spiting off Aster, Jack slowed his pace so that he could walk besides North. "So what does Aster have against roller coasters?"

"He's just a big baby when it comes to them, no big deal."

"Why? Is he afraid of heights?"

"Who knows? All I know is that he should get over it so that he can enjoy them! Every time I come here, I go on the roller coaster and have a blast every time."

"Does that mean that you've been here before just like Tooth?"

"Absolutely! My first time here was when I was just a little boy in middle school, just like everyone else. We used to come here together."

"Really? All of you came here as kids?"

"All the time."

"How long has everyone here known each other?"

"Well, Sandy and I became friends in fifth grade and then we met Aster when we went to a summer camp. He was so short back then! But then later on, he hit his growth spurt and grew up to be almost as tall as me. After that, we met Tooth in the park a few weeks before school started."

Jack plainly listened to North retell how they all became close friends. While he, Sandy, Aster, and Tooth have known each other for over six years, Jack had only known them for about two weeks. He wasn't exactly sure how long he's been friends with all of them, but he knew that he's gotten close to Tooth during that short period of time. The others seemed to be just as close based off of what North was saying, maybe even closer. the Russian described his bonds with all of his friends something unbreakable, yet Jack felt that his bond was just sprouting.

From what he could tell, Tooth may be the closest friend that Jack has out of all of them. Instead of having just a simple friendship with her, Jack felt like they were more…profound. Additionally, he's told her his whole history with his family and they even visited his father's grave in the middle of a school night. It was risky to have Tooth sneak out of her home, but it was a risk that they had taken together.

When they purchased their tickets at the entrance gate, the group of five friends along with Sophie joined the swarms of people walking into the carnival. Even with it being an early Sunday morning, there were still countless of crowds.

Sophie was consumed with excitement when she followed her brother into the carnival. Everywhere she turned there were games and rides calling out for her to come play. Within seconds she was overwhelmed, and her small hand wriggled out of Aster's grasp. As soon as she broke free, she ran off in her own direction. "Fun! Fun!"

"Sophie, wait!" Aster could not believe that he had just let his sister slip away. She was like an eel when it came to escaping, you could barely keep them in your grasp. He turned to his friends, who were standing right behind him. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Right now, I have to go fetch Sophie before she gets into trouble."

Not waiting for an answer from them, Aster abandoned his group of friends to chase down his sister. The mass of carnival goers here was massive, and he refused to lose Sophie so early in the morning.

Sandy stepped forward to follow Aster but he was paused when Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on, Sandy, Aster's got this. Besides, I don't think we'll be able to find both of them right now."

Sandy took one last look in the direction that Aster and Sophie had taken. Jack was right, Aster should be able to handle this himself. Aster was tall; he should be able to spot Sophie's bright, blonde head from his height.

Sandy turned back to the remaining members of their group and agreed with Jack, who was relieved that he was able to change Sandy's mind about leaving. He was having mixed feelings about his dream, and he still didn't want to let Sandy out of his sight purely out of fear.

"What should we do now?" Tooth was at the front of the group. "Aster's gone after Sophie, so it's just us right now."

"That over there looks interesting." North pointed to a carnival game with people circling it. The game was a classic strength tester in which you bring a heavy mallet down on a pad and ring a metal bell, nothing but a usual high striker. As long as the game wasn't rigged, you would receive a prize from the gamekeeper if you were strong enough to be successful at the game. North - the strongest out of all of them - seemed intent in checking it out. "What do you guys think?"

"I don't see why not." Jack answered. Tooth and Sandy agreed before they all set off to the high striker together. After penetrating through the wall of bystanders, they saw a young boy step up to the game and place his hand on the mallet's handle. "C-Can I try?"

"Are you sure that you want to try this, kid?" The game keeper asked the boy. "I don't even think you can lift the mallet high enough to swing it."

"Can I try anyways?"

"Alright, go ahead. Just don't strain yourself trying."

"I can do it!" The boy was twelve years old. His sights were set on the prize rack where a stuffed dinosaur toy rested on the top shelf. In order to earn it, he would have to be strong and ring the bell. North and everyone else in the crowd watched as the boy struggled to lift up the hammer. He was short and lanky, making his difficulties not so surprising. Compared to the boy, the hammer was possibly twice his weight and over a foot taller than him. With his arms quivering, the boy lifted the mallet off of the ground. His face was red when he raised it over his head, about to swing it down. Just as he was about to strike the pad, the weight of the heavy mallet pulled him down to the ground and he fell backwards.

The crowd around him laughed, and the boy hung his head at his humiliating failure. Even the game keeper smirked at his lousy attempt. "Better luck next time, kid."

North stepped up to the game. He had seen how the child had eyes for dinosaur prize, and he was set on winning it. "Excuse me, I would like to play."

"Go ahead."

North took the mallet from the twelve year old and held it with ease. With both hands, he raised it over his head without even trying; slamming it down on the pad in one tremendous swoop. He proved to be successful when the bell rang and the gamekeeper announced that North was a winner. "Pick a prize! Anything from the top shelf!"

Bowing to the applause he was given, North picked out the dinosaur prize that the boy from earlier had failed to win. He turned to said boy after being handing the prize. "What's your name?"

"U-Uh, it's Todd."

"Well then, Todd, I guess today is your lucky day!" North handed the prize he had won to Todd, who's eyes lit up when he grasped what was happening. "Are you giving this to me? To keep?"

"It's all yours."

"Really?"

"Just be a good boy, Todd."

"I will! Thanks!"

Todd gladly accepted the present from North. His skinny arms wrapped around the dinosaur prize and he waved goodbye to his hero before running off with gratitude. Knowing that he had been able to make Todd – who was just a random kid - happy made North smile, glad that at the good deed he did.

"Nice going. North." Tooth gave North a well-deserved pat on the back while standing at his side. The audience clapped to him as well. "You've really made that boy happy."

"I know! You know me, Tooth; I love to give presents to all the good children."

While Tooth and North chatted away over what had just happened, Jack and Sandy held their own conversation.

"C'mon, Sandy, I think it'll be cool."

_Whatever you say, Jack. Anyway, I'm sure that either we'll end up going._

Sandy put his notepad away when North and Tooth joined with them. He silently pointed to Jack, who had an idea about where they should go next. "Hey guys, so I have a suggestion about what we should do now."

Tooth tilted her head to the side curiously. "What is it?"

"So apparently there's supposed to be this show somewhere in the carnival near where we are. I saw a sign for it while North was playing that strength game."

"What kind of show is it?"

"I don't know that much about it, but I know that it has stuff like magicians and people doing daring tricks like."

"Sounds interesting. How long is it supposed to last?"

"I think about an hour. So are you and North for it? Or should Sandy and I just go alone?"

"We'll come. After Aster ran off to get Sophie, I think it'd be better for us to stick together. And maybe we'll see Aster while on our way there."

"Can't you just call him with your sell phone?"

"Calling Aster while he's busy with Sophie never works. I don't think he'd even be able to hear his phone ring with all the noise going on around here."

"Oh, okay. Then let's go on to the show then."

Now that they had made up their minds, they left the high striker game and headed towards the show Jack had mentioned. He didn't know too much about what kind of performances would be there, but he was sure that nothing bad would happen if they just sat in an audience, safe from harm.

* * *

**A/N: did you guys miss me? i missed all of you while on my journey away from this fic but here i am, back and alive. working without motivation is something that you have to train yourself to do, and if you guys havent noticed, i took a little break from this fic for a while. during that break, i posted some new stuff. I have a twoshot posted called Thunderstorms and another fic called Her Guardian Angel and i worked hard on them so be sure to check them out!  
**

**SunRainNinjaGurl: (i actaully dont remember why im wiring this fic ahaha) i started this story in February, and it is currently August, meaning ive been working on this fic for like, 6 months i think. each chapter is about 2-4,000 words and then theres my author's notes so those count as words too. and basically the reason why it has taken me so long to update was because i was actually rethinking everything about being an author and such ;A;  
**

**Chihuahua rocks: yeah, ive been re-reading most of the reviews ive had on any of my fics. i like to read the reviews because they make me feel better than actually reading the fics ive written (i cant even look back on the first fanfiction ive ever written without cringing) **

**Darkblade 2.0: i tend to have this problem where i would rather read the fic im writing rather than working on it lol. but the reason why i keep working on it is because i know exactly what i want to happen in it and how it should end (sorta). i dont think ill ever put up a fic for adoption, but maybe ill just hand out plots that i dont have enough ideas to create an actual story with. and im glad i could help ease you! its been a few weeks since ive last updated, but this was easing to write too since im getting my muse in order  
**

**rats xp: hands down, i think your advice helped me the most. i felt so awesome and free when writing and posting other stories, so it was really what i needed to get out of another one of my many slumps. and im not really forcing myself to do this anymore, i just see it now as something that i choose to do. sometimes i have motivation to do it, and other times i dont.  
**

**Mystichawk: no matter how much praise i get, i think my feelings towards my own capabilities will always remain the same. i dont know why, but i think it has something to do with my personality. but, it leaves me with the fact that there is always room for me to improve!**

**Sol and G'syr: so 'asdfghjkl' is keyboard smashing. it usually occurs when someone is spazzing out and they are too overwhelmed with emotion to create actual words to say. therefore, they dont know how to express themselves. when someone keyboard smashes, they are usually too emotional to describe how they are feeling**

**TheAngelofIego: OMG REALLY?! Coldest and the Boldest and Project Guardian are the most popular fics ive seen in this fandom ever. they have all sorts of fanart and theyre so popular that its what inspires half of the humanized fanart of the guardians that ive seen. knowing that youve ranked me with those two fics is just...indescribable for me...  
**

**so im looking back on this chapter and i dont hate it but i dont love it either...so i guess im improving?**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: hey do you guys know whats fun? roleplaying. now _that_ is fun :)**

Chapter Thirty Nine

They were seated in the front row, close to the stage. An acrobat dressed in a tight, shiny costume was just wrapping up their performance and took a bow as the audience clapped. There were at least over fifty people in the audience, all of them watching the show with interest.

Jack was sitting in between North and Sandy. Tooth was to his far right, but he was too concerned about Sandy to even think about her. Sandy was the second closest friend he had, and Jack would remain cautious around him until the day was over.

"What act do you think is up next?" North asked out loud to all of his friends. They were sitting in a line on his right, wondering the same thing. North looked to Jack, who just shrugged. He didn't know what act was up next either.

A large and burly man stepped onto the stage holding a large wooden plate. He set it on the stage so that it was upright and a woman made her appearance. She was wearing another shiny costume, but hers was tighter than the others and it was more fitting. The man strapped her to the plate, and Jack realized that the female performer was being shackled onto a wheel.

The burly man left the woman incapacitated on the wheel and left the stage without a word. Another man walked out, but he was much younger and was wearing a black cape that fell to the floor. He was most likely the next act. Clearing his throat, the man made his announcement. "Welcome, everybody! You may be wondering why I am here, standing in front of a beautiful young lady who's strapped to a wheel behind me,"

Jack leaned back in his seat. This was probably going to be another magic act. It wasn't that he was apathetic about magic tricks, but he found it repetitive to include two acts under the same classification in one show. A motor backstage began to hum and the wheel began to spin with the woman rotating along with it. He couldn't see her face clearly, but Jack could tell that she looked worried. What role was she playing?

The main performer pulled a cart covered by a black tarp in front of him. "Before I do anything further, I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" With every passing second the wheel turned faster and faster until the woman bound to its surface was nothing but a blur. The performer took no notice, and continued with his introduction. "My name is Corbin, and I am a knife juggler and thrower!"

Corbin swept the black tarp off of the cart to revel five, razor-sharp throwing knives. Each blade reflected the spotlight shining on the stage, making Jack cringe. Sandy was sitting in the front row; a few yards away from where a man would be throwing piercing projectiles threw the air. He even had a cape, a hazard that's eligible to cause its wearer to stumble. Jack flashed a hint of dismay at Sandy. If Corbin -the knife thrower who also juggled- misdirected one of his knives, there was a chance it could launch into the audience and impale Sandy. Based on the contrast between his dream and his fear, Jack didn't know if he was being careful or fearful.

Corbin picked up all five of his knives and began to juggle them. The wheel with his assistant was till spinning behind him, waiting for the knives. "Now if you pay attention, you should know that you should _never_ try this at home. Playing with knives is dangerous."

Jack anxiously watched as Corbin juggled four knives in one hand and shot the fifth one at the wheel. Its blade dug into the wood five inches away from the assistant's head, joining her in the spin cycle.

"I already introduced myself, but my assistant who I'm lobbing my knives at is Christa. She's nineteen years old and still young, so let's hope I don't miss." Corbin smirked at his audience, acting like a true professional. He juggled multiple knives in one hand while building up suspension over where on the wheel it would become planted. In Jack's case, he was always on the edge of his seat and hoping nothing would go wrong.

Another knife was shot through the air and hit the wheel close to Christa's throat. Two knives thrown, three more left. It was only three, nothing to worry about.

Two knives danced between Corbin's fingers as he threw the third knife, not even looking in the direction of Christa and the wheel. The sharpened blade split the wood and became stuck in the space between Christa's left arm and her head. There was no pattern in where the knives landed from what Jack would tell. He just knew that each knife struck an area on the wheel close to a vital limb. His eyes averted from the show and back to Sandy. The mute was just as engrossed in the act as the rest of the audience was, meaning that he wouldn't want to miss anything. If Jack tried to pull Sandy away from the show now, he would only be shoved away. His paranoia would do nothing but annoy Sandy.

With one knife being flipped in each hand, Corbin faced the audience. His fingers were unharmed by the knife blades while his cape flowed to the ground. "For my last trick, I'll be throwing these two knives at once, so be sure to pay close attention!"

The act was almost over and Jack could feel himself beginning to relax. All that was left were two knives that would simultaneously be thrown, easy enough.

Corbin walked around the stage with the knives in continuous motion and his cape fluttering behind him. He was still facing the audience when he walked towards them, not realizing where his cape had gotten tangled. "Now I-" He grunted as he tripped over his cape, dropping one knife and launching the other at the audience. Gasps from the crowd followed.

/

"Bunny! Bunny!"

"You want those?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, Sophie." Aster pointed to the set of bunny ears and the gamekeeper took them off of the shelf. After half an hour of chasing down his little sister and playing with her, Aster was spending his time playing the carnival games with Sophie. They had just won the basket toss game and Aster crouched down to hand Sophie the prize he had won for her. "There ya go, Sophie. Whaddya think?"

"Bunny!" Enthusiastic about her newly won bunny ears, Sophie plopped the fuzzy accessory on her brother's head. "You're a bunny!"

Aster let out a small laugh. "You want me to wear these, don't ya?"

"Yeah! Be a bunny!"

"Heh, alright." With gray, fuzzy bunny ears on his head, Aster scooped up Sophie. "We should probably go searchin' for the others now. What do you say?"

"Let's go! Go! Go!" Sophie pointed off into a random direction and Aster walked towards it, not knowing where he was going. Sandy had sent him a text about twenty minutes ago about some sort of show that they were going to go see, so Aster would head there.

/

The tent where the show was held in was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Nobody said a word, shocked over the knife thrower's slip-up.

The stray knife was jutting out from Sandy's backrest, surrounded by wide-eyed members of the audience. But none of them were as shocked as Sandy himself, who was pulled away from the knife at the last second by Jack. Even though a knife was hurdled at Sandy, Jack wasn't as surprised as everyone else. He was relieves.

He was relieved that the mishap he's dreaded all day finally happened. It was all over, and he was able to save Sandy from a cruel fate unlike in his dream. "You okay, Sandy?"

Sandy blinked away whatever shock was in his face and took a few deep breathes, giving Jack a thumbs up. He was a bit shaky-they all were- but that didn't prevent Jack from dragging Sandy out of the tent. North and Tooth rose out of their seats and followed after them.

They all stood outside the tent, chatter from within audible enough to understand. But they were out, Sandy escaped without a scratch, and Jack had never been so happy in his life. His dream was right, a sharp projectile _would_ be shot at Sandy today and Jack changed the outcome by pulled his friend back. He was okay, Sandy was okay, they were all okay.

"Oh gosh! I cannot believe that that just happened!" Tooth's body was still trembling with shock as she kept glancing from Sandy to Jack. "Do you know what could have happened? That knife almost hit Sandy! Are you okay?!"

Sandy's personal space was invaded when Tooth embraced him, glad that he was alive. "And Jack! You saved him!" Jack almost choked when Tooth hugged him, and was finally able to breathe when she let him go.

"How are you dealing with this, Sandy?" North asked. He was just as startled as Tooth, but the welfare of his old friend came first. Sandy responded with another thumbs-up that was similar to the one he gave Jack. He felt as if a fire inside of him had just been extinguished. The danger was gone, but the pang of adrenaline still remained.

Jack felt the same as Sandy. His back was to one of the many booths and he watched as his friends got over the fact that Sandy was almost died.

"What about you, Jack? How are you holding up?"

He didn't hear them. A new thought popped into his head that returned Jack to his panicked state of paranoia.

What if this wasn't what his dreams were warning him about?

There was an awful lot of lacking similarities between his dream and the show. Pitch wasn't there, Jack wasn't too late, and having a knife speeding at your head was too different from being shot from behind. If Jack's new theory was correct, then Sandy may still be in danger...

"Jack!" Tooth nudged her spacing out friend on the shoulder and his thoughts were thrown off track. He shook his head before answering. "What is it?"

"You looked troubled. Are you sure you're okay? You were sitting really close to Sandy when that knife flew at him..."

"I'm not frozen with shock if that's what you mean. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"I...really don't know how to explain it."

"Well, why don't we go play some games to get your mind off of it?" Tooth rotated to Sandy and North. "What do you guys say? Wanna play some games? We can always walk around the carnival too. Aster and Sophie still haven't shown up yet."

Everyone agreed with Tooth and carried out her suggestions. No one brought up the show while they aimlessly walked through the carnival. They didn't want to mingle on it any longer and all of them knew it was best to busy their minds with useless chatter so that they'd get over it. Easter was a week away, and making plans about what to do after Easter was always a topic of discussion.

The group of friends did anything to try and forget what had almost happened to Sandy. They rode the merry-go-round, played a couple of games, and North gave away every prize he won to smaller children. Each child he presented a prize with was elated, and North smiled at their reactions to his gifts of kindness. It was as if they were opening their presents on Christmas morning.

Jack's attention would constantly flip on itself. One second he could be freaking out about what might happen to Sandy, and then the next he would grow flustered whenever he got close to Tooth. If only Aster was here, then they could argue or become competitive over pointless carnival games. North and Sandy could compete with them too.

"Where do you think Aster and Sophie ended up?" Tooth asked. She saw how the day had shifted from morning to noon. Time certainly flew by when you're having fun. "When do you think we'll run into them again?"

"Probably soon enough." Jack answered. "I bet they're just playing kiddie games and going on kiddie rides. Sophie would love them." He smirked at the thought of seeing someone as tall and as gruff as Aster accompany Sophie on a ride meant for four year olds.

Tooth was walking behind Jack and placed one hand in her pocket. She carried the dolphin charm she had Sandy make for Jack everywhere with her, waiting for the right opportunity. Tooth desperately wanted to present Jack with the charm. His birthday may be two weeks away, but that didn't mean that he couldn't receive an early gift from one of his friends.

Looking around at the various tents and stands, Tooth saw a kissing booth and directly across from it was a pastel purple tent. It was etched in gold and black embroidery with a sign hanging in the front that read:

_Rose Lalonde  
Seer of Light  
Fortuneteller_

It was a fortune telling tent. Having her future sure sounded interesting, so why not go? Tooth brought the question up to her friends. "Hey guys, I'm going to go check out the fortune telling tent over there."

"Okay." North shrugged at Tooth. Having his future told wasn't as appealing to him as winning prizes to hand out, so North decided to just keep observing the other games.

"Have fun." Unless Jack could drag Sandy into the tiny fortuneteller tent, he didn't want to risk going in there alone with Tooth. He'd rather keep an eye on Sandy than sit alone and be nervous next to the girl he had a crush on.

Sandy just waved at Tooth. The boys didn't seem to be all too interested in accompanying her to the tent, so she walked over to it alone. Tooth saw herself as the only one who wasn't apathetic about getting her fortune told, even if it was all a scam. Almost all fortunetellers and psychics were frauds.

The purple flap on the tent was pulled back and Tooth saw all sorts of orbs scattered inside. Candles and paper lanterns lined the perimeter while purple throw pillows decorated the ground. There was a woman sitting in the middle of the dimly lit tent, most likely the fortuneteller.

Tooth took in the color choice of the decor and noticed how everything was either black, a shade dark of purple, or gold. The only other clashing color was the fortuneteller, who's outfit was made of orange, yellow, and a hint of light blue. "Are you Rose Lalonde? The fortuneteller?"

Looking up from the incense she had been lighting, the fortuneteller stared up at Tooth. "Yes, can I help you?"

"My name is Tooth, and I was wondering if you could tell me anything about my future."

"Anything in particular?"

"No, not really."

"Then take a seat." Rose gestured for Tooth to sit down on a throw pillow in front of a small, wooden table. Tooth obeyed and sat in front of Rose, finally seeing her up close.

Rose had light blonde hair that fell to her chin and was tucked behind a headband. Her lips were outlined and smeared in black lipstick and Tooth noticed that her eyes were an amethyst shade of purple. She considered that Rose was wearing colored contacts; it made her look more mysterious just like the orange veil in front of her face. What also stood out was the outfit that the fortuneteller wore. Instead of some flashy, bold costume, it was more of a dress. A slit ran down both sides of Rose's orange dress to reveal her blue leggings. There was a yellow sun embroidered on Rose's chest, representing light.

"So, Tooth, are you sure that you aren't searching for anything in particular?" Rose rested her arms on the table and slouched forward. "The usual inquires I am frequently subjected to typically involve events that will happen within the next twenty four hours."

"Uh…"

"Would you prefer to select a card?"

"A card?"

"Yes. There are signs and symbols printed on my cards that you will subconsciously select without knowing what they hold. I will then reveal what the card contains and inform you based off of what the card's topic is."

"Really? You can tell that from just a simple card?"

"I'm not a seer for nothing, you know." Taking out a deck of cards, Rose fanned them out in front of Tooth. "Choose three."

All of the cards were face down with their backs shown. Tooth could not see what was on their fronts, and randomly select three of the random cards. She set them down on the small table - still faced down - and Rose put away the remaining cards. The seer then picked up one of Tooth's cards. After flipping it over, she exposed that the card displayed a black spade.

"A spade. Tell me, do you have any enemies or reoccurring antagonists? Is there anyone in your life who you constantly have strong feelings of odium for?"

"Yes, but why does he matter?" Tooth's immediate thought of an adversary was Pitch. He was a foe to not only Tooth, but to her other friends as well. Jack could have been kicked out of school because of him! Every year he would endlessly attempt to spoil any holiday plans they made and was always trying to get them into trouble."Is there something I should know about him?"

"I warn you, be vigilant around him. One thing's for sure – all he will do is cause you pain."

"Isn't that the obvious? I see him as an enemy anyway. Why? What's going to happen?"

Rose took out a white orb. It resembled that of a cue ball –one that would be found in a game of pool- but it was the size of her palm and gave off an eerie tone. A light from inside glowed within the sphere and Tooth saw that it was a crystal ball. "Can you see anything?"

"…Yes, you won't have to tolerate him much longer."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"But there is always a price to pay to everything."

"What price? Are you saying that' I'm going to lose something?" Tooth watched as Rose flipped over her second card, exposing a red heart. "The boy you have strong feelings for; value him now."

Tooth gasped and clutched her locket. Jack? "Are you talking about Jack? Why? What's going to happen to him? Are you saying that he's going to leave?"

Rose held up a hand to silence Tooth. Her bombardment of questions prevented her from concentrating. "Shush, it appears cloudy when you chatter like a monkey."

"But-"

"I may not know what will happen to him, but there is_ nothing_ that you can do to prevent it. Everything that is about to happen, everything that has yet to come, is completely beyond you. But even though is is out of your range, it's best to enjoy the journey before it comes to an end." Her eyes were blank while bringing the news to Tooth. Rose's client stiffened; her lip slightly quivering.

"You can't change fate, dear. Even if you run away it will still catch up to you." Every word Rose said shot Tooth like a bullet. According to the so-called Seer of Light, something awful would happen to Jack and she could not do anything about it. But defying fate or not, Tooth won't let Jack go.

"As for your last card," Rose turned over the last of the cards and frowned. "Oh, there is a pink diamond on this one."

"A diamond?"

"Yes,"

"What does a diamond mean for me?"

"Hmmm…" Rose consulted her orb again and became focused into what she saw in it. Tooth anxiously waited for what the fortuneteller had to tell her– her fingers tapping the table. "Do you see anything?"

"Yes,"

"And?"

"How many close friends do you have?"

"Four."

"I see. Be on the lookout for both of them, because you'll never know when and where disaster strikes."

Tooth was brought back to the scene earlier today where Sandy almost had a knife stab him in his head. The very thought that he or someone else could be in jeopardy scared her more than Pitch did. "What kind of disaster? Are my all friends going to get hurt?"

"Not all, only one. Then there's the one you love as well, but in due time. Then there's also your enemy to look out for."

"But if something is going to happen to one of my friends, which one? Who is it?"

"I...cannot say..."


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: high school is a nightmare D:**

Chapter Forty

They all stifled a laugh when they saw Aster approaching them. The giant pair of rabbit ears on his head stuck out of the crowd like a carrot in a bowl of cherries. It looked ridiculous. "Nice ears, Cottontail." Jack teased. "I didn't know the Easer bunny was already here."

"Rack off, Frost."

Sophie laughed to herself and pointed at the ears on Aster's head. "He's a bunny!"

"I think it looks good on you, Cottontail." Jack continued. He turned to North and Sandy. "What do you guys think?"

"I think Aster should wear them for Easter." North suggested, practically laughing at how out of place the ears looked on Aster. Sandy nodded in response and Sophie giggled again. She loved the rabbit ears on her brother. Aster just rolled his eyes at his friends' judgment. Though he had to admit, the ears on his head were ridiculously huge and attracted too much attention. "By the way," he said in an attempt to change the subject. "Where's Tooth?"

"Fortune telling tent. She should be out shortly." North answered. He pointed to the purple tent in the distance where Tooth had gone.

Jack had his hands in his pockets and kept his attention fixated on his friends. He was being busy talking and laughing with them, but every once in a while he would glance behind him. There was a kissing booth across from the fortune telling tent, and Jack tried not to notice the girl at the booth staring at him. He could feel her watching him while curling her hair and wanting to invite him over. It was uncomfortable.

"What are you gawking at now, Frosty?" Aster interrupted. Jack shook his head and turned back to his friends. "Nothing."

Sophie looked past Jack and saw the girl at the kissing booth. She was still focusing on Jack in particular. "There's a girl there!" she announced while pointing to the booth. "She likes Jack!"

Everyone except for Jack turned their head towards the booth. Just as Sophie said, the girl occupying the kissing booth waved to them and tried to get Jack's attention. She must want him to come over. Jack only groaned and wished that he had worn his hoodie today. He wanted to hide his face and not give his friends any ideas but it already seemed too late.

"Looks like you've caught her eye." North said, stating the obvious. "Why don't you go over there and say hi?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!"

"There's nothing wrong with being friendly!"

"Then why don't you go over there, hm? Why don't you go say hi to her?"

"She seems to be interested in you, so I-"

"I'm not going." Jack turned his back on both the kissing booth and on his friends. He didn't want to go over to the kissing booth at all. Since his only present friends were all guys and Sophie, Jack knew that he would most likely get pressured into kissing the girl if he went over there. After all, boys will be boys.

"What's wrong, Frost? Scared of a girl?" Aster jutted, using the same teasing tone that Jack usually used. "She's just a girl, Frosty. She ain't toxic."

"I'm not scared of some random girl!"

"Then go over there, tell her you're not interested in her, and then come back here."

"Fine, I will." Jack couldn't back down from a challenge, especially if it was Aster who presented it to him in front of the other guys. He didn't even want to agree to Aster's challenge but his stupid ego had spoken for him. The next thing he knew Jack was walking to the kissing booth right across from the fortune telling tent was. He was nervous.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the girl at the kissing booth said when she saw Jack approaching. Her voice was flirtatious, making Jack even more intimidated. Now that he was walking up close to her, Jack could see her features clearly.

The girl had long, blonde hair with blue streaks, was wearing blue mascara, and had on blue lipstick. There was a spider ring on her finger and Jack suddenly felt like a fly about to be caught in a web.

"Feeling lucky today?" she added, winking at Jack. "You seem pretty confident."

Jack wasn't confident at all. He wasn't worried about the girl that much, but rather about Tooth. The tent that she was in was right behind him and Jack didn't want her to come out to see him at a kissing booth. She might get the wrong idea. "Actually, I'm here to ask you to stop acting like a creep and to stop looking at me."

"Oooooh, being fussy now, are we?"

"No, I'm not. Listen you-"

"Hey, the name's not 'you'. You can just call me Vera if you'd like. And what about you? Do you have a name?"

"Jack."

"Well then, Jack, I'm having trouble hearing you. So either speak up, or come in closer."

Jack knew where this was going. Vera must be luring him in, and he would not fall for it. "My volume is just fine, okay? I-"

"What was that? Sorry, it's like I've gone partly deaf from being at this dumb carnival for so long."

"Yeah, whatever. So like I was saying,"

"Either come closer or yell, Little Blue Boy."

Jack rolled his eyes. He wouldn't lean in close, but he would just go deep enough so that Vera would stop pretending like she can't hear him. The sooner he told her off, the sooner he could get back to his friends. "So listen here, Vera, I- mph!"

Vera had grabbed Jack's shirt and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Jack was stunned by what was happening and tried to break free, however he was just a fly caught in Vera's web. In just a few seconds she had been able to draw him close and now she had her lips forced upon his.

Where were his friends? Weren't they seeing any of this? Why wasn't anyone helping him?!

/

"North, we both knew there is _no _way that you can win this. My aim is far more superior to yours, so there's really no point in trying."

"Nonsense! Aim has nothing to do with this at all! It's all about luck!"

Aster and North were standing in front of another game booth. They had gotten there right after Jack left, when North was boasting to Aster that 'anyone can aim'.

The goal of the game was to throw darts at a wall of balloons to see who could pop the most. Each round only lasted about a minute, so the two friends were being competitive and having a contest. Whoever popped the most balloons in five minutes would be declared the winner and then go up against Sandy.

Sandy was standing behind Aster and North. While they competed against each other, he would make sure Sophie wouldn't run off. They were all caught up in their little game and the thought of Jack had completely slipped their minds. None of them even noticed that Tooth was coming out of the fortune tent behind them.

/

She was worried when she stepped out of the tent. Rose had given her such grave notices; Tooth didn't know what to think. Rose had let her keep the card with the heart on it, as a good luck charm, and Tooth was now looking around the carnival. Her friends were no longer waiting in front of the tent, and her attention was drawn to the kissing booth across from her. Tooth almost fainted when she was what was going on there. "Jack?!"

Jack was finally able to break away when he heard Tooth's voice. His worst fear had been realized. Tooth had seen him kissing someone else and now she was going to get the wrong idea. He wiped off the blue lipstick Vera's kiss had smeared on his face and turned to Tooth, eyes wide and full of fright.

His mind was drawn to a blank as he just stared at Tooth. Both of them were astonished, and Tooth looked like she was hurt. Why was she hurt? She even dropped a card from her hand, letting it fall to the ground. Jack looked at it closer to see that there was a red heart printed on it. "Tooth, I-"

Tooth ran off before he could say anything else. He could have sworn her eyes flashed with something, but what? Why did she look so offended? "Tooth, wait!" Jack called as he ran after her. He couldn't believe how naïve he was. It was all because Vera just _had _to rudely kiss him without a warning. Jack didn't even have feelings for her! The person he liked was Tooth! "Tooth! Slow down!"

All Tooth could to was run towards the ladies' room. Jack wouldn't be able to follow her there, so she should be safe once she got inside. Tooth didn't think to look back as she ran into the bathroom and shut the door. Luckily, no one else was in there so no one would see her cry.

She couldn't believe what was going on. Tooth hadn't expected Jack to be at a kissing booth, lips locked with the random girl there. Why did he even go over there?! None of her other friends were around either. She was hurt of course, but she didn't know why.

Jack didn't really love the girl at the kissing booth, did he? Of course not! Tooth knew what kind of person Jack was, so he wouldn't easily fall in love with just anyone. However, she still felt hurt as tears slid down her face. The card that Rose had given her was dropped when she saw Jack. As she muffled her sobs in the bathroom, Tooth wondered if this is what Rose meant.

"Tooth! Tooth, I know you're in there!"

Jack was pounding his fist on the door that Tooth had slammed shut. Today was not going well at all for him. "Tooth!" he yelled again. The more he called her name the more urgent it became that he received a response from her. Jack hadn't meant to hurt Tooth, even if he didn't know why she was hurt. "Tooth, please…" His voice faded as his head was titled down. He lowered his fist, ceasing his repetitive knocking, and sighed. As an alternative, Jack clenched his fist to keep from crying. Never before has he ever been so frustrated. This was all happening way too fast.

Now that he had stopped causing a ruckus, Jack listened closely and heard whimpering coming from the other side of the door. Obviously Tooth was crying; Jack just didn't know why. She hadn't spoken a word to him ever since she walked in on him at the kissing booth. He knew that Tooth only saw him as a friend, so why was she crying? Unless…

Oh…

But that didn't make any sense! Why would Tooth ever see him as anything more than a friend? Jack was the one who had feelings for Tooth, not the other way around. That's what he told himself, that there was no way Tooth could return his feelings. But here she was, crying after she saw him kiss another girl. It sparked another question for Jack.

Did Tooth actually love him? There was only one way to find out, and he would never find out if he just waited. It was time to take action.

"Tooth," he began. "Before you say anything, let me explain to you a thing. I was _not _at the kissing booth for what you think."

There was no response from the other side of the door. Jack hoped that she would be listening to him.

"But…I'm sorry that I hurt you. So to make it up to you, I was wondering if you'd like to spend the rest of the day at the carnival with me. It'll be just the two of us, like a date."

Tooth gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. She had stopped crying and was now frozen in place, more shocked than she was before. Did Jack…Did Jack just ask her out? Did he really just ask her out on an actual date?

"And it won't be a date as in 'I'm sorry so please forgive me' but it'll be like a _real _date."

Tooth's mind was too busy buzzing around with thoughts to think of a response. If Jack had just asked her out in what he said was a 'real date', then does that mean he liked her? She stood up and ran to the mirror. If she was going to agree to go on a date with Jack, she had to look presentable. All of the makeup on her face was running due to her previous crying. Tooth had no time to spend ten minutes fixing it up, so she took a few paper towels and wiped it all off. Jack seemed to like her the first time he saw her without her makeup, what's once more? She even re-styled her hair so that she wouldn't look like a sad mess to him. Now all Tooth had to do was face Jack, who should still be standing outside. She cracked open the door enough to see him. Jack had a warm look on his face, comforting her. When he saw that she had opened the door he smiled. "S-So…Tooth, what do you say? Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Jack was doing his best not to shake from being so nervous. He could see that Tooth's eyes had become red from crying and there was still a chance that his theory about her feelings could be wrong. As far as he knew, Tooth could only like him as a friend. But Tooth didn't look mad or hurt; she just smiled and hugged him. "Yes! Yes! Of course!"

He was taken back by Tooth's reaction, until he grinned and hugged her back. "So you're not mad?"

"Well, I guess I _did _jump to conclusions. You weren't lying when you said all that were you?"

"No, not at all. Even if I was lying I don't think I'd have a reason to. I just went over there because the girl who ran the booth wouldn't stop looking at me. I was just trying to tell her off and then she kissed me. I didn't even like her."

"Oh, that's good to hear."

"What's good to hear?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Tooth pulled away from Jack and looked at him. "So apart from that, what do you want us to do on our date?"

/

For the next couple of hours Jack and Tooth had completely forgot about their other friends. They just spent their time together, laughing and having fun.

There first stop had been at the House of Mirrors. Each reflection of themselves was distorted, making it interesting to see. Jack had found one of Tooth's biased reflections to be hilarious, only to obtain a punch from her when he laughed too hard. He still found it amusing, though. Tooth had also found it funny when Jack entered a section of the house where its was basically a room with the walls made of extremely large mirrors. He was hopelessly confused, stumbling left and right, and in the end he was laughing with Tooth.

When they left the House of Mirrors it was Tooth's turn to decide what they should do. She scoped out the carnival –resisting the urge to say they should go to The Tunnel of Love- and spotted a dunk tank not too far away. "How about that?" she pointed out, showing Jack the game. There was a man sitting above a deep tank of water and to make him fall in you would have to through a tennis ball at a target. He appeared to look pretty dry from where they were standing, and Jack thought it was time for that to change. "Sounds good to me. Let's go."

The couple traveled over to the dunk tank and Tooth stepped up to play. She was instructed to take one of the three tennis balls she was given and to throw it at the target. If she hit the bulls-eye hard enough, she would win. If she didn't, nothing would happen.

Jack stood by Tooth's side and watched her throw her first ball. She missed by a longshot, making the man in the tank snort with laughter. "Ha! Did you even aim at all on that? I bet an infant has aim better than you!"

Tooth clutched the second tennis ball and tried not to let the taunt get to her. This is just what the guy in the tank wanted. He only wanted to taunt the players enough to make them lose their focus. That way, he would stay high and dry. After aiming more carefully, Tooth chucked her second ball.

Jack almost laughed when Tooth's throw failed and the ball ended up rolling on the ground. He didn't want to laugh at her for miserably failing, but a small smirk managed to tug at his lips. He didn't want Tooth to see it, though. This was supposed to be a date with Tooth, not a time for him to spend laughing at her flukes. The guy in the tank however, took his chance to spew more of his insulting criticism. "Are you even trying, girlie? By this rate you'll just walk away without even getting close!"

Tooth has had enough of being mocked. The guy in the tank was really getting on her nerves and she glared at him. "You know what? Why don't you just shut up and let me play?" she growled. Being ridiculed twice in a row was exasperating. Her anger was sensed by Jack and he could relate to how she was feeling. Being yelled at for making simple mistakes was never easy. "Hey, Tooth," he asked. "Do you think I could do this last one?"

"Oh, sure." She handed him the last tennis ball and hoped he would hit the target to make the jerk in the tank fall into the water. "Try not to miss."

"Don't worry, I won't." he said with a smirk. Jack was up to something and Tooth knew it. He took the tennis ball out of her hand and took one step forward; then another, and another, and another. It was then that Tooth realized that Jack wasn't getting closer to have a better aim; he was walking towards the target.

"Hey, kid, that's too close! You're not allowed to throw from where you are!" the man in the tank yelled. Jack was standing one foot away from the target and since no one was stopping him, everyone else must want to see the guy get dunked as much as he did. He looked at the man and innocently smiled at him. "Who said anything about throwing?" Without warning, Jack slammed his fist against the target took a step back when the man in the tank splashed into the water. He could hear Tooth laughing behind him.

"Jack, that was great!" she congratulated as he walked back over. She never expected him to do something like that.

"Told you I wouldn't miss. Besides, that guy was such a jerk anyways." he said. Everyone else around the game appeared happy with his actions as well. He wasn't even snapped at by the gamekeeper. They were too busy howling with laughter to be mad at him for cheating.

"Hey!"

Not a moment too soon Jack and Tooth turned back to the tank to see the man climbing out. He was soaking wet and shivered due to the cool weather. Anger was written all over his face as he stepped towards them. "You two think this is funny?!" He began to stomp towards them and Jack grabbed Tooth's hand. He was still smiling when he looked at her. "Run!"

Tooth had no time to think before Jack dragged her away from the dunk tank. He lead her through the crowd and she glanced back to see the man from the tank chasing them. She could hear him yelling at them to stop but Jack kept running.

"In here!" he said as he pulled Tooth into a nearby tent. They ducked inside and Jack closed the flap while Tooth caught her breath. Being safe and sound in their new hiding spot, Jack peeked out to see the guy he dunked stalking the entrance. "Bad news Tooth, I don't think that guy is gonna let his grudge go anytime soon."

"Well if you ask me, he got what he deserved. What should we do now then? We can't really call the others to come get us if that guy is out there. I don't even know where they are. Do you?"

"Not a clue."

"Then do you think we'll be stuck in here? This tent looks pretty small, so I don't think there's a back exit. There's probably only one way in and out." Tooth was searching around the tent. It was full of costume racks and stools. There were also a couple of makeup stands with mirrors and lights. They must be hiding where performers go to get ready. "Any ideas, Jack?"

"Hold on, lemme think for a second."

Jack was a quick-thinker. He's been in enough trouble to come up with a fast solution, why should now be any different? Inspecting what he and Tooth were given in the situation, Jack hatched a plan. This tent was full of costumes! No one should notice if a few of them went missing, right? Jack turned to Tooth and beamed at her. "Tooth, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"What closing sizes do you wear?"

"Uh...why?"

Jack turned to a nearby rack of costumes and began to look through them. "Because I need you to undress."

* * *

**A/N: sorry ive been inactive for a while. school has kept me busy :/**

**so listen up everyone, I have a question for all of you. I am thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo in November this year. its a contest where you take one month to write a 50,000 word novel and if your story is good enough, you'll become a winner. now, I am stoked for this contest and I want to enter but im also really nervous because I feel that im not good enough to submit a story. I have no hopes of winning and it sounds really fun to do, but what do you guys think? I just don't want my story to look like trash compared to any other entries...**


End file.
